A Cup Of Sugar
by Krahae
Summary: New names. New place. Same young women. Years as a criminal operative or as someone fighting them means nothing during midterms. Raven, Jinx and maybe a few others tackle the newest and strangest challenge yet: college. Slash/AU/DCU/M0ffins.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Characters here are property of their owners, none of which happen to be me.

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Initial note: Not set during any other of my continuities.

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**_A Cup of Sugar._**

Despite the time in the Hive Academy for Exceptional Young People, college life was as much culture shock as that small time she'd spent working with the Titans. Jinx sighed, the puff of air disturbing the fall of pink hair that fell before her eyes, as she looked over the latest essay assignment. Her art history class was more a challenge than she'd expected, having some first-hand experience with a number of rare pieces.

Stanford was a very prestigious college, one she'd never thought to find herself attending. Truth be told, it was likely she'd never have been able to attend, if certain things hadn't come to pass. Smiling, she recalled the few weeks she'd spent with the odd heroes, shacking up in their Tower briefly, more for her protection than any comfort. Having recently turned her back to the Hive, the target on her back grew exponentially. "Funny, those guys were just like my old team," she mused, tapping her pencil on the paper before her, the essay forgotten for the moment.

Time and habit had eventually led her away from her time with the Titans. Oh, she admitted it was comfortable enough, but her penchant for being on her own, and a restlessness at so many people watching her had driven her away. Not one to be caged, or idle, she'd made her own way, and in time refocused her life on something positive. College had seemed the normal thing to do... so here she was.

It helped that when the Hive was literally blown apart, most of the financial records were lost as well. Fast thinking on her part let her capitalize on this, the windfall of Blood's personal accounts being in her hands greasing many wheels. The ex-Thief smirked slightly, looking over her condo with a deep sense of complacency. That feeling lasted about ten seconds, when her stomach growling roused her abruptly. Glancing at the clock she started, realizing it was nearing afternoon, "Huh, what I get for skipping breakfast."

Making her way to the kitchen, Jinx straitened her hair, kept these days more often in a pair of braids where her usual horns were kept. She still put it up for special occasions, but at home, it was just easier to braid and forget. Starting some water to boil, she was sorting through her various bins of rice when a noise chimed through her home. Blinking at the unfamiliar sound, she looked around, thinking perhaps she'd dropped something when it pealed again. "Oh Christ it's the doorbell," she muttered, scrambling for the front door. "Coming! And you better not be selling insurance, or you'll need some!" Somewhat abashed, she realized that no one had come to visit her, since she'd cast off both the Hive and the Titans. Little wonder really, she wasn't "Jinx" these days, and wasn't in contact with either faction.

Opening the door suddenly, she winced at the afternoon sun bearing down on her. Blinking furiously, she grinned at the silhouette standing there, waiting. "Sorry, I was-"

"Jinx?" A feminine tone, albeit low and with a slight rasp, shook her from her greeting. Having not gone by that name in nearly a year, the quirky ex-Thief stalled completely, a hundred things rampaging through her mind in a moment. Notions of warrants, forgotten crimes, tax evasion, jaywalking, library fines, lost rental movies, skipped study sessions, and then there was the newspaper subscription... Shaking off her wandering paranoia, she squinted against the sun and peered at her guest more closely.

"Sorry, I think you have the wrong person," unable to see past the glare, she figured it safest just to leave it at that, and closed the door again, leaning against the jamb to settle her nerves. Shaking her head slowly, the girl was half way through a step when the cursed bell sounded again, causing a tic under her eye to fire. Peering through the peephole, she grumbled again at the placement of the sun today. "Stupid perfect Bay weather."

Pulling the door open once more, she leveled a stern glare at the person standing there, head tilted slowly as she waited. "Yes? What can I do for you?"

The figure sighed and shifted into the shadows a bit more before answering, "Sorry, I just came by to see if you had a cup of sugar you could spare me."

Blinking slowly, Jinx pushed the door open a bit more, gesturing her guest inside. "Yeah. Sure, just come in. Kitchen's this way," without really looking at the young woman, as her voice identified her, Jinx turned and made her way back into the kitchen herself, wanting nothing more than to be rid of the interrupting person, so she could get back to studiously ignoring her assignment.

She'd almost written off the use of her taken name when the person called her by it once more, "Jinx, don't you recognize me?" Their tone was nearly pained the girl realized, and she thought for a moment that it could be an old Academy member or one of her past contacts, something she'd be wary at best to admit to. Shrugging slightly, she barely turned to face the person, stopping by the portal to her kitchen.

"I hadn't really looked at you, to be honest, with the sun," she admitted, figuring if the person was going to be persistent about this, there really was nothing she could do to avoid it. Turning to fully look at the young woman before her, Jinx fumbled with the glass she'd pulled out to measure sugar in, dropping it to the floor with a crash. "Raven... you're Raven."

"You always were the observant one," the shorter woman said with a slight laugh.

Still shocked and somewhat nervous about the reality of a Titan in her home, and this particular one to boot, the ex-Thief nearly stepped on the same glass she'd dropped before Raven reached out and stopped her, pointing down in a reminder. "Oh. Right. Let me... yeah. Clean up. Have a seat, I guess," waving dispassionately to the table nearby, where she was just recently working, she padded into the hallway, intent on fetching her broom and dustpan. Cursing quietly, she regardless felt a slight thrill at Raven being here. Things had gotten quiet, tranquil in the year she'd spent shuffling money, cleaning her record and laying low. Now that she was happily, if also bored with, her new life, the sudden appearance of those that had previously ripped her stability away was like a face full of cold water.

Returning to the dining room, she found the Titan reading over her essay, sitting in the seat she'd been occupying not five minutes previous. "What are you doing?"

Startled, the shorter woman stood quickly, fidgeting with her hands. "Sorry, I just... well I didn't realize you were you."

"I know we're in the habit of not making much sense to one another, but what?"

Sighing and shaking her head, Raven retreated to another chair and sat, as Jinx busied herself cleaning up the broken glass. "You're a bit popular on campus, at least in the art circles."

Brow furrowing, Jinx looked to her quizzically, "What do you mean, I've never heard of this."

"I don't really expect you to, it's more of something," quieting suddenly, the dark-haired girl looked away, making Jinx pause. "I guess," she began slowly, seeming to pick at her words a few moments before letting them escape, "that among the people taking art history and appreciation classes, the applied history, your papers are really well taken."

A bit put off by what she was implying, Jinx none the less had to admit, she was doing excellent in those fields. She'd advanced quickly, even if it was through effort as opposed to some talent for the particular work she was doing. "I suppose. I do get good marks," pausing a moment to watch the Titan, she emptied the broken glass into the dust bin, "I take it that means you're also in the art history program?"

Nodding slowly, Raven seemed to curl into her hooded jacket a bit, a gesture Jinx nearly laughed at. It looked like something she would do in a cloak, which reminded her of how much the young woman before her seemed to have changed. Gone was the cloak and leotard, replaced by a simple hooded jacket in lavender, on top of what Jinx could only guess was a high necked blouse or shirt. Much like herself, she looked like an other college student, minus a few small glaring details. The small red gem still adorned her forehead, and her hair as well was a few shades out of the usual. Two locks seemed to be free, framing her face while the rest was in a braid that escaped the hood and rested along her collar. "You're staring."

"Oh! Sorry, um." Jinx blushed a bit, before returning to the cabinets, remembering why Raven was in her kitchen in the first place. "So you're at Stanford too? Coinkydink. I didn't think you guys got personal time," finding a less destructible plastic cup, she located her baking stores, but paused a moment, turning at Raven's slight laughter. "Hm?"

"So you really don't know. Where have you been?"

"Pardon?" Brow furrowing, she leaned on the counter and crossed her arms, leveling a slight glare at the Titan again.

Sighing, Raven stood and made pretense of looking over the china, modern and less the sort of thing one would usually display, so much as use day to day. "The Titans... when things went south after my father, I left. There's a team on either coast now, more than enough hero to go around," Facing away from the other woman, she shook her head slowly, a hand reaching out to trace the slight pattern on the wood shelving. "I needed to be away. Find myself, now that I have that option. Which brings me here," grinning slightly, she nodded to the half measured cup of sugar the bad luck charm was still holding. "I was attempting to make cookies."

Stifling a laugh, Jinx finished doling out the sugar, wrapping the cup in plastic cling to keep it all in place. "I see. So what's your major?" Coming back to the table, she sat and closed her books, curiosity winning the moment as she wondered what else she'd missed, during that year.

Raven looked at her a moment and seemed to shrug slightly, coming to sit to the young woman's right. "History, I was going for a teaching degree. Not really... hrm. It's not going as well as I'd hoped."

Jinx nodded slightly, gesturing at the books arrayed on her table. "Yeah, real change from the usual huh?"

"Indeed," the Titan agreed, smiling slightly. "Actually... ah." Looking uncomfortable suddenly, the shorter woman seemed to sink back into her jacket again, something Jinx was fast identifying with nervousness in the young woman. "I'd thought, after seeing the results for some of the essay and test work, to ask 'Jennifer Wrangler' for some help in studying and maybe some tips."

Blinking, Jinx looked to her essay still resting on the table. The name she'd picked up, assumed and made her own scrawled there in her arcing script. J. Wrangler it read. "As in, me to tutor you," she said, somewhat blankly. Shaking off the unreality of the moment she stood, shaking her head slowly. "Listen, Raven... we have history. Hell we have bad history at that," the suddenness of Jinx's standing startled the former Titan, and she did as well, following the pink-haired girl to the door where she'd stopped. "I don't think I can just... gloss over that. I'm sorry." Feeling awkward, having been bantering with the girl, albeit clumsily, moments before, the former Hive operative continued, "It was nice seeing you again, and I'm glad to hear you're getting your life going and all... but..."

Raven looked from the cup of sugar held out in a slender hand, the other opening the door for her. Seeming to draw into herself she nodded once and took the offered cup. "Sorry to have bothered you."

"It's no bother. You can keep the cup,"

Raven took three steps from the door before the meaning behind those words unfolded. "Keep it... ah." The sound of the latch catching, door shutting behind her made her wince slightly.

Jinx leaned on the door frame, hand over her face as she kept her eyes shut, mind a blur of thoughts in the afternoon light. "I'm sorry Raven," she murmured with a sigh, shuffling back to her makeshift desk in the quiet of her home. "Maybe in another life, we could do this. Be normal, be friends. But I've worked too hard, spent too much of myself on this.

"Sometimes, last chances aren't about parole or jail. Sometimes it's about just living." Feeling the odd urge to sniffle, she shook her head hard in the failing light and went back to her essay, drowning her thoughts in the words of her material.

_I oOo I_

A week can feel like the longest part of your life, if there's nothing to make it memorable, Jinx mulled as the lecture went on. Finally succumbing to the mind-numbing drone of the professor, she flicked the record switch on her hand recorder and left to get a soda. The professor didn't really condone such things, as it was a participation component lecture, but understood that everyone needed a moment.

Jinx figured her outstanding score in the class so far also granted her a bit of slack.

Lazing by the vending machines a moment, she stretched and worked the tension from her muscles, stiff from hours of sitting and listening in classes. Promising herself never to skip her morning exercises again, the ex-Thief lifted a leg and wrapped her arm around, balancing on the ball of a foot in a vertical split as she tried to work out the kinks.

"Jesus how do you still manage that," the voice, familiar but sudden, surprised her and old instincts kicked in, resulting in her swinging around and bringing her sneaker clad foot in a swift arc toward the voice. Recovering from her surprise, she jerked back in time to avoid an incident, if only barely.

Raven stood there, wide-eyed as she had just gotten a very good look at the tread-wear on the pink-haired girl's sneaker. Wincing as she hopped, a sudden cramp in her thigh from the unaccustomed motion, Jinx muttered an apology and sat hard on the ground, leaning against the vending machine behind her. "Jeez, don't sneak up on me."

"Sorry... didn't know you'd try and kill me," the former Titan sighed, picking her bag up from where she'd let it fall. "Sorry," she muttered again and walked off, as Jinx's cat's eyes tracked her slowly.

Banging her head slowly on the vending machine, in time with her heartbeat, Jinx let loose a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Why am I so... disagreeable to her?" she wondered, running through all the things in her mind that could cause her to be so.

Jail time. Physical injury. Destruction of her home and way of life. Generally being a creepy emo kid all the time. Smirking at the last idea, Jinx cracked her neck swiftly and stood, claiming her caffeine charged sugar water from the vender.

"Sugar," she murmured, remembering the afternoon a few days past. Sighing, she shook her head and rounded the table, on her way to the lecture hall again and back to the hypnotically numbing drone of the professor. She stumbled as something slipped under her foot, and looking down she spied a few slips of paper, where Raven's pack had been.

Taking the small note and a folded printout, she debated just throwing them away. No business of hers, after all. Curiosity, as always, won out and the girl opened the small slip, brow furrowing as she read over the rather ornate script.

_ Jennifer,_

_ I'm sorry about the other day. Really I am. I didn't mean__to disturb you,  
I guess it was a bit thoughtless of me to just show up like that. I know  
we've got history, as you put it, and not the good kind. I guess, and  
you can laugh if you want, I was remembering how alike we are. The  
odd ones. Sorceresses. Distant and disturbed, sometimes. I guess...  
well after it all, since we're both starting over, I thought we could be  
friends. I understand why we can't. I think I do anyway._

_Sorry to ramble. All I meant to say was I'm sorry and_

Squinting, she tried to read the rest of the note, but the script went ragged and wild, like the hand holding it had suddenly lost interest and just ran amok. Biting her lip, Jinx reread the note, stalling a moment on the way Raven had used her new name, rather than the moniker she'd taken in the Hive so long ago. Feeling her stomach lurch, she sighed. "Goddamn heroes. Always know just how to..." trailing off, she remembered the other paper, also dropped from the Titan's pack.

Slipping the note carefully into her pocket, the ex-Thief opened the printout, realizing immediately what it was. The transcript was standard at the college, an on-demand printout available in the councilor offices for one's current GPA, course progress and any notes available from teachers. She boggled a moment at the numbers there, scanning to the head of the document again to make sure she was reading it correctly.

"However you did as a Titan, "Rachel Roth", as a student you suck," she mumbled, scanning over the print again as she made a slow trek back to her own class. There was the possibility that the paper belonged to another, but she had a feeling that the name there was one Raven would take, if not her actual name. Stopping in the middle of the hallway, partially obstructing the flow of students leaving from another lecture, the girl narrowed her cat's eyes at the paper, biting her lip again.

"Oh fuck it, what have I got to lose," she railed suddenly, scattering nearby students like birds at her sudden vicious tone. She pointedly ignore the nagging little voice in her head, that whispered "Everything" to her rhetoric. Slipping the paper into her back pocket, the girl named, for the moment, Jennifer Wrangler, strode toward her class to collect her pack, waving off her professor's raised brow at her behavior.

She'd email him when she got home and beg off someone for the end of lecture notes. Bombing the next quiz would still have her in the top five of that class. Smirking, despite the cold lump seemingly taking root in her stomach, Jinx tried to ignore the voice in her head that warned her away from what she was about to do.

The library was a familiar sanctum, the place other than home she was most likely to be found. Waving happily to the staff, most knowing her by name, the quirky girl strode to the periodicals and grinned at her friend, working the posts that evening. "Yoko, I needs a favor."

Yoko raised a brow, shaking her head slowly, "Jenny, I don't want to set you up with my brother, you know he's not into-" giggling as the other girl vaulted over the desk and proceeded to tickle her, the smaller Asian girl crossed her arms in front of her and backed away.

"See, always better to just agree with me," laughing quietly, the pink-haired girl smiled and leaned on the wall near the smaller girl, watching her go back to her task. "But seriously, I'm not into Hiruma. He's not my type, and besides, I think he has something for that girl on his football team anyway. The redhead."

The shorter Asian girl nodded, going back to putting print up on the posts she'd later hang in the main area for people to scan through. Tedious work, but necessary, print still being used often. "Likely. But what brings you here, I mean it's not like we don't have a room for you in the back or anything," her quiet voice going droll, she winked as Jennifer rolled her eyes. Common knowledge in the library, was that the quirky girl was allowed almost everywhere, a habit that started early on as she was the student of one of the archivists, and they often met in the the lounge to talk. The habit had continued since. Some time during spring break, Jennifer had redecorated the room, tired of bare walls and brown cabinets, into something more festive and in her opinion, "breakroomy".

The result had been something like a drunk pinata wearing Halloween regalia exploding in the room. Despite the outlandish décor, the staff had added their own flourishes, and where the room was hardly used before, it now was something often visited.

Jinx grinned and motioned to the discarded newspapers and periodicals nearby, with a glint in her eye. "I need some material. You're going to help."

Raising a brow and taking half a step back, Yoko paled as the somewhat odd girl before her burst out in maniacal laughter. "On second thought, maybe you and Hiruma would work just fine," she muttered. Jinx, hearing said comment tackled the girl.

A passing shelver, only a week into her internship, stalled as a hand was seen, grasping for the tabletop near periodicals and a muttered "Not the ear!" could be heard from behind the counter. Seeing the rather conspicuous pack of the girl Jennifer that seemed to nearly live in the library perched there as well, the nervous student dashed back into the shelves. No sense in being collateral damage, she figured.

Raven sighed as she finished copying down noted in her psychology class. Despite the achingly familiar subject, she was still struggling with the material more than she should be. Grumbling to herself, she nearly missed the ping of her phone, sounding almost at exactly the same time as her laptop popped up a small window, warning her of new mail. Blinking and looking between the two, she raised a brow and started with the phone.

**--Irony**: Check your mail.

Blinking at the cryptic message, she spared a sidelong glance at the blinking indicator on her laptop. Licking suddenly dry lips, she opened the hinted at mailbox and noted the one new message.

**From**: Irony (at) situations (.) here**  
To**: RRoth1134 (at) stanford (.) edu  
**Subject**: Irish Lesbian Bookies!

**Message**:

_ Not this mail, the one in your PO box. Go go. I don't have all day._

(A ridiculously frantic smiley face darted about here, seemingly inspecting the message frame)

Glaring at the obviously spoofed address, she rolled her eyes and debated sending it to an old friend to have tracked back to the source. Seeing as it was sent through the school messenging and mail systems though, it could be hard as anyone with database access could have potentially simply inserted the message into the queue without notice. Sighing expansively, she looked to the left and right, before closing her laptop, leaving the mail there for later inspection.

Class was over, and her curiosity was winning the battle against her better judgment. Making her way to the campus post office, she mulled over the mail again. Could it have been a coincidence? Someone could have gotten her mail and phone addresses from one of the school messenger boards, after all the online discussion forums were public. To the school at least.

The common link was starting to annoy her. Someone at the school was playing games with her. Stalking past a row of bicycles, she reached up and fidgeted with a lock of her hair, set up as it was often these days. The two forelocks she kept down, and the braid that swept forward onto her collar. The former Titan winced as a small spark of her kinesis snapped loose from her control and toppled a bike, a little giggle in her mind alerting her to the cause. "Behave. I'm trying to be normal here. We don't need to have more going wrong, do we?" The silence that met her mental scolding was answer enough.

The post offices were a fairly crowded affair, being a common hub of activity and traffic. They also managed to serve the immediate area, being an actual postal hub. Finding her small mail box, the Titan nervously opened the door and removed a small stack of neglected mail, most college program advertisements and military promotionals. She rifled through the stack, finding a table in the nearby commons to read the few important, if not suspicious mails sent from friends and a professor. Nearly missing the one letter she was looking for, the violet-haired girl blinked, the envelope itself confusing her.

It looked to be made out of... magazine covers.

Opening the parcel warily, ready for a number of bad scenarios she'd imagined as she walked to the offices, she instead found only a single piece of paper, folded yet oddly bulky.

Taking out the odd note, she scanned around, looking to see if anyone was watching her. Feeling silly for her paranoia, she opened the thing and boggled.

Cutout letters from magazines, newspapers and who knew what else were glued and stapled to the backing paper, neatly chaotic in their presentation.

_Mz. R0tH_

_PlEEaze meET Me in the lybRary break room, 6pm toonight.  
(Here there was another of those preposterous smileys, just the printed version.)_

_CoMe aloon, or the kiTTen getz eet.  
(Pasted below the haphazard text there was a picture, obviously picked off the Internet, of a rather unbelievably adorable kitten. Her teeth ached looking at it.)_

_YoUrz TrUly,_

_Irony_

Raven blinked at the letter, before numbly sliding it back into it's envelope. "Who the hell..." she shook her head and checked her phone for the time. 5PM. "Well, whoever it is, can wait for me to have something to eat," she muttered, slinging her pack over a shoulder a she tossed the bulk of her mail into a nearby garbage can. The odd letter, she slipped into her jacket.

To those that knew the quiet girl, the look on her face would have seemed out of place. Those who were just students there, like her, found her quiet smile rather fetching.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Characters here are property of their owners, none of which happen to be me.

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Initial note: Not set during any other of my continuities.

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_**A Cup of Sugar, pt.2**_

At exactly 6 PM, Jinx heard the door to the library open quietly. Normally this would be no easy feat, with the study hall open till very late at night, but luck was, as usual, on her side. Tomorrow's holiday break had caused most late-running programs to be closed early, and the library proper was no different.

Though not an employee or intern at the library itself, the gross amount of time she spent there left few distrusting the girl. So much were the archivists used to her constant presence, that they'd often let her close the place herself. Grinning though her loosened bangs, Jinx slinked into the chair she'd picked and waited.

Raven, nervous but somewhat expecting some kind of silliness, simply walked though the darkened room and, guessing where the staff area was, walked toward it with little hesitation.

To see a grinning Jinx, her customary smile threatening to unhinge her head, sitting at the staff table really wasn't much of a surprise to the former Titan. "You know, a simple email, or text message, or hell even a note passed by a classmate would have been just as good," she groused, taking in the other young woman's effluvient mood.

"Oh sure. I _could_ have, but where's the challenge or fun in that?" Pulling out a notebook, she leaned on a hand and regarded the other student, hood up as per usual and glare in full "halt, vile criminal" grandeur. Giggling slightly she gestured for the violet-haired Titan to sit and opened her notebook to a blank page.

Rolling her eyes, Raven approached the table but didn't sit. "So what is this about, precisely. The last time we talked, I didn't really get the impression there'd be much of a next time we talked."

Her mood dimming visibly, Jinx mulled this over a moment and nodded, nibbling on the back of the pen she held. "I guess I did give off that vibe. I mean, I was kinda..."

Seizing the small pause, Raven smirked and counted off a few adjectives in the silence, "Ill-tempered, mean, unfriendly, antisocial-"

"Alright alright, I get it. I was a bitch, I'm sorry!" Muttering to herself, the quirky young woman sighed, fidgeting with her jacket's hem. Wondering if perhaps she'd made a mistake, the ex-Hive operative decided to just get to the heart of things, rather than dance around and step more on each other's feelings. "You wanted a tutor; I'm offering. That's what this is about."

Blinking, Raven was momentarily taken aback at the shift from verbal sparring to frank honesty, but didn't mind so much, as she still wasn't much used to people being as direct and outspoken as Jinx. Most of her previous human contact was with her old team, and that was it's own bag of dysfunctional dialogs. "Alright. I'll bite," she conceded, pulling out a chair and sitting, slowly while keeping her eyes glued to the playfully glinting ones of Jinx.

Bouncing slightly in her seat, Jinx tilted her head and continued to chew on the pen she'd claimed. "First things first I suppose... you don't go by Raven anymore do you? I mean, you seem to have ditched the whole goth shtick, I guess the name went too yeah?"

The young woman across from her scoffed slightly, sighing, "I never did the goth... oh nevermind. No, I don't go by that name anymore, it's a bit pretentious sounding for the day to day." Pulling her own pack up onto the table, she took out a notebook and pen of her own, before continuing, "I go by my birth name now, Rachel Roth."

"Isn't that kinda dangerous? I mean, family and all."

"I guess there really wasn't anyone to tell you," Rachel murmured, tapping her pen against the pad slowly. "My mother was trapped in... another place. One my father destroyed. He... he's dead. Has been since I was eight-teen." Looking off into the distance for a moment, she shook off the memories and coughed. "Can we change the subject."

"Sure, sorry. Didn't know. Um," biting her lip, Jennifer grasped for a change of subject. "I don't know why I picked the name I did, I guess it was more random than anything. Most mundane "J" name I could think of, and the brand of pants I had on at the time." Grinning inanely, she pulled a soda from her satchel, offering it to the ex-Titan. "Drink?"

Waving the offer away, she grinned slightly. "Just ate. So," she looked at the girl across from her, the awkwardness of the recent conversation still heavy in the air. "Tell me why it was you changed your mind."

Expecting this eventually, Jennifer looked away for a moment, before shrugging. "I guess I thought about it. How you guys had helped me, after that Brotherhood incident. Outside of that, well," grinning and leaning over at the table, she shrugged again. "I'm kinda random. Besides, I don't have many people around here these days I can just hang around with."

Quirking an eyebrow, the former Titan seemed to consider those words. "Hang around with, huh? Maybe I didn't think this through," softening her words with a small smile, Rachel regardless was happy with the change of events, particularly after seeing her current GPA. "I'm taking a few classes I could use some help with, but I don't want to be too much of a bother or strain."

"Right! So should we start with art history two, or your creative writing class?" the quirky girl asked, pulling out the borrowed course guides from the library. "I've got the keys to the place, so we can hang around tonight and work unless you have other plans."

Shaking her head, happy for the opportunity to make some progress, the ex-Titan was digging through her backpack looking for her class textbooks when something hit her. "Jin-Jennifer. How did you know what classes I was needing help in?" Leveling a stoic glance to the blinking girl across from her, she paused, waiting for an answer.

"Uhm. You ah, mentioned art history the other day, so I assumed-"

"I didn't mention which one. In fact I didn't mention creative writing either. Or my email address, or postal, or phone," the empath added with some force, brows furrowing deeper with each addition.

The pink-haired girl sat quietly a moment, still in the sudden quiet that enveloped the two students. A moment later she pulled the folded paper from her pack and slid it across the table. Rachel didn't need to look at the printout, knowing precisely what was on it. She'd figured the papers she'd lost were just at home, or folded in the pages of one of her texts, perhaps in a book she'd been carrying earlier. It figured that the little bad luck charm across from her would have ended up with them.

"Right. I get it," rising, the the violet haired girl threw her books unceremoniously into her pack, as Jennifer winced with the violence of it. Throwing rather than settling the pack along her back, the shorter of the two glared balefully down at Jennifer, her hands working slowly, empty in the low light of the break room. Turning, the former Titan favored her with one last look, before moving quickly form the room.

Jennifer had barely registered the girl as gone when her voice, cast to reach her through the empty library echoed back. "I don't need your, or anyone's, pity." Wincing again, Jinx sighed, and went about repacking her things.

_I oOo I_

"I hate Mondays," Jennifer muttered around the corner of some toast. The library lounge was atypically empty that day, mostly due to the foul temper she was carrying around like a dark cloud over her head. It had been three days since getting snubbed by the girl she still knew as Raven. Tapping her temple with the pen she held, the toast was only occasionally nibbled at as the girl pondered her weekend.

Essays. Studying. Mowing the lawn. For all the Bay area's perfect weather, she could barely muster the motivation to do more than get up, do her homework and prepare for this week's tests.

She wholly blamed Raven for this.

Murmuring a rather off color rendition of Poe's Raven to lighten her mood, the witch missed her friend walk into the lounge with her own breakfast. "Morning, Jenny."

Flailing in surprise, the pink-haired girl offbalanced her chair and landed with a crash, the toast miraculously still seized between her teeth. "Hi Yoko."

Surveying the quirky girl's mood and state of dress, Yoko grinned slightly and pulled her chair up, sipping her morning juice. "So, I take it whatever prank you pulled last week backfired spectacularly?"

Glaring over the edge of the table, Jinx righted her chair and flopped back into it, leaning it back again despite her spill moments before. "You want me to bite your ear again don't you," she snarled around her breakfast, only partially noticed.

Favoring her sometimes antagonist with a sigh, Yoko reached out and patted her hand. "Listen, I know you meant well, but maybe the whole ransom note and stalker thing was a bit over the top."

Snorting, Jinx rolled slitted eyes at the slight girl. "Of course it was over the top. Look at me! I'm over the top." Tilting back in her chair again, she nibbled furiously at the toast again, taking precious centimeters from it's bulk. The toast had no comment to this.

Sighing quietly, Yoko pulled her notebook out and flipped to a tabbed page. "I took the liberty of doing you a favor. You can thank me by coming by Wednesday and helping with the sports section displays. Those always take too long during football season."

"How's your brother's team doing, by the way? Heard there were some bumps recently in that game they had against that other college team... what was it called? Sphinx's?" Inspecting the paper Yoko had slid across the table, she missed the annoyed glare the other girl was shooting her. It only bore an address, but Jinx could guess who's it was. "And you complained about me being a stalker before."

"This is different. You said yourself she's hard to deal with. Well, this opens up other avenues. Who knows, maybe you can do her a favor or something, to get her back in your good graces." Pulling out a sports page in Japanese, she glanced over the article and handed it to Jennifer. "And the game was 'bumpy', but yes. They managed in the end."

"Favor huh... hm. Yeah this may come in handy after all." Tucking the slip away, Jinx stretched and winced, her back making a noise like someone twisting celery. "I suppose I should get to lectures, these notes won't take themselves."

"Isn't that why we have recorders," Yoko quipped, packing her own bag and stowing her lunch in the lounge refrigerator.

Rolling her eyes, Jinx shook her head at the slight girl. "Never trust a machine to do a woman's work, honey." Leering, Jinx made grabbing gestures at the slight girl, from which Yoko scampered out of the room. Giving chase, the ex-Thief snatched up her book bag and ran from the lounge.

Later that day, Jinx paid a visit to one of her professor's offices, playing out a hunch she had from the other week. The man had taught her first Art History classes, and was an excellent instructor. Probably one of the best she'd had. Aside from being an excellent professor, he also looked the part, with his rheumy eyes, huge glasses and thinning, graying hair. Figuring that her sense of irony was her best resource in this matter, she bet on the hunch and "Mr. Middlefield? Alex, are you busy?"

Looking up form the coursework he was currently working on, the man shook his head, waving the young woman in. "No, not really. What brings you by Jennifer, it's been a while since you've paid me a visit." Standing to offer her a chair, Jinx blushed slightly at the man's officious behavior.

"Well, there's a friend of mine in one of your classes, at least I think she is. A um... Rachel Roth. Do you recall her?"

The man looked aside a moment, brows furrowed in thought before nodding slowly. "I believe I remember the lass," he murmured, going to a filing cabinet and pulling a folder after a moment's searching. "Short, a bit on the quiet side, and ah..." Peering at Jinx a moment he smiled slightly, nodding almost imperceptibly. "Actually, reminds me of you quite a bit.

"Well until we get to her grades, at least." His tone falling, the man dropped the folder on his desk startling Jinx.

Swallowing, she nodded slowly, "That's what worries me, I guess. I was thinking about trying to tutor her, I just needed some insight maybe in what direction to focus."

Nodding at the girl, the professor considered a few files from the folder. "If I had to name a fault in your friend, it would be focus actually." When the girl he knew as Jennifer blinked at him, not understanding he continued, "To be blunt, she gets sidetracked, daydreams it seems. During lectures she starts off well enough, then just seems to zone out. Same on tests. She works well for a while, then seems to lose interest.

"The girl is bright, probably brilliant actually," he murmured, looking over what documents he'd taken for his files. "When she does answer questions, they almost always are correct. I just think it's a matter of focus."

Jinx mulled this over for a few moments, before nodding. "I don't know why, she's always been the focused sort. I don't think I've ever really seen her preoccupied or just zoning out before. Maybe it's something that's happened since she..." trailing off, Jinx blushed realizing that she was dangerously close to privileged information. Letting on that she knew who Raven was, previous to her civilian life, would lead to questions of her own past. "Family issues," she finished lamely, hoping the rather taboo subject would deter Middlefield's curiosity.

The man seemed to let the topic go easily enough, nodding quietly in his own thoughts. "I think you'd be good for her. A good influence. If you need any material that she'd be working on, I'll be happy to supply it," gesturing at his desk, the man smiled apologetically. "Though I'd like to continue our small chat, I do so rarely see you these days, I do have work to finish before my next lecture."

"Sorry to have kept you, Professor, and thanks."

"Alex, dear girl, just call me Alex," Smiling, the older gentleman walked her to the door and held it, as she passed the portal. "Do come by again, but call ahead! I have some stunning Italian coffee I think you'd adore."

"I will! See you later!"

Pondering the meeting, Jinx had to admit it really wasn't in character for Raven to be the distracted sort. Throughout the time she'd known the stoic girl, she had been the epitome of calm focus, in fact. For her grades to be suffering because of a lack of focus just seemed... wrong. Thinking about it further, she wanted one more opinion, before heading home for the day. The walk back to the library wasn't too long, but it circled around the main quad, and the forested courtyard. Looking a her watch, Jinx frowned. If she went the long way, it'd take at least half an hour, and she'd be set back to taking the redeye bus to her condo, as opposed to the college shuttle. If she cut through the quad...

Hiking up her satchel, she dove into the oddly wild area outside of Stanford's main courtyard. One of the odd defining features of the college, the university had a number of small undeveloped areas, forested and otherwise manicured but without structures along it's main drive. These groves were occasionally patrolled by the campus security, but walking along the byways at night was sternly advised against.

Not wanting to waste time on taking roundabout paths, Jinx figured the campus forests would be safe enough.

To anyone else, this was probably true.

_I oOo I_

The afternoon faded quickly once she entered the woods, the sun being in that precarious position just skirting the horizon. Jinx tried to hurry, not wanting to be lose time to the local mass transit schedule just because of bad campus planning.

Given, the Arboretum was very pretty, but at night with the lack of illumination offered too many places for unwanted attention to hide. Shuffling through some low brush, she was reminded again that for all it's benign beauty, Stanford, as well as the Bay area, weren't the most friendly to her and those like her. Sighing, she recalled the various attempts by local and state, not to mention federal, governments to limit and legislate metahumans into places they didn't want to be. Mostly, these places weren't comfortable, didn't have the best view, and could often times be considered less than idyllic. For her part, as a once-figurehead of a criminal organization that specialized in terrorism at worst and petty larceny at best, she was in the scapegoat faction within the metahuman group.

A large reason why she pulled her about-face in behavior was the direction her life was going. If she had proceeded along the set path she was on, sooner than later she would be crossing paths with the Justice League and the various other heroes that littered the world.

She wagered that those groups would be less forgiving of her than her familiar Titans.

Jinx roused herself from her reverie when something caught the peripheral of her vision, something out of place in the green span of the Arboretum she was crossing. Keeping pace and her eyes forward, she loosened her pack with the pretense of putting away a pen she nearly always kept in her pocket. As her attention seemed broken and unfocused, the image played along her vision again, a blur of green on green along her far left. Narrowing her eyes slightly, Jinx cocked her head slightly, listening to the night sounds around her.

Birds still sang, and insects kept up their breathy thrumm. Distantly she could hear wild dogs barking in the more remote parts of the groves, unbothered by the comings and goings in the wood. She was pondering the anomaly of the night sounds still being loud and alive when the answer came, a smile lighting along her face in the moonlight.

"Beast Boy. Come out, already," she called quietly, stopping and crossing her arms in the dimly lit wood. As if called, a green shadow, barely visible in the night landed before her, probably only five feet away. Resolving itself to a long-limbed tree-dwelling monkey, the shape quickly shifted and left in it's place the familiar, if older, face of another Titan.

Looking none the happier for her discovery, the green skinned changeling glowered in her direction for some moments, till she rolled her eyes and kept walking, brushing past him without a word. She'd gone maybe a score of steps away when she faintly heard his voice, deeper, scratchier than she'd remembered. "It's Garfield now."

"So we've all grown up, then. Good to know. Good night, Garfield," she said, without inflection as her pace held steady, not bothering to slow. Soon enough the sound of footsteps in the underbrush sounded behind her, and the former Thief chewed on her lip in aggravation, wondering if she'd have to take the damn late bus regardless, at this rate.

"Don't bother her, Jinx."

Her eye twitched at this, but her stride kept fluid as she ducked below a branch and slid along the underside of a low-hanging tree. "Bother who? Sorry, I don't really work in such vague reference," she murmured, knowing the changeling's keen ears would pick up on her words without much effort.

A low growl was her only response for a score of heartbeats, till the changeling managed to catch up. "You know who I mean. Just let this go, she doesn't need your help."

"If you'd seen her grades, you'd think different," she answered with a sigh. Shaking her head slowly, Jinx trudged on, determined not to let the interruption keep her from what she planned. "And besides, she initially was going to ask me, so doesn't this fall into the realm of 'None of your fucking business?'"

"It's my business when she starts hanging around with criminals," was his terse answer. Her eyes flaring neon for a moment, Jinx considered letting him know precisely how wrong it was, but she calmed and counted down from ten before answering.

Tone flat, she didn't bother sparing him a look as she spoke, "For someone who's breaking college regulation about afterhour's visitation, as well as potentially criminal harassment of a student of the opposite gender, in a dark area, I'd be wary about flinging the word criminal around, Beast Boy." Sneering, she shook her head and picked up the pace, not wanting to waste any more time on the Titan stalking her. "Now, if you'll stop being a bother, I have a librarian to talk to and a bus to catch."

She'd almost expected him to get vocally abusive, but she didn't think the Beast Boy she knew would be brave enough to try and stop her. Taking her assessment of the youth and tossing it aside, she also hadn't expected him to be looking fit to fight, as she did finally turn to regard him coolly. "Take your hand off me if you want to keep it."

"Don't threaten me, and you better listen," the Titan hissed, his grip on her shoulder tightening. "Raven doesn't belong here. It's obvious, and she just needs to get over this phase and come back." Shoving her away as pretense for removing his hand, the Titan backed away, but kept speaking, "I'll be watching, so keep away. I don't want to talk to you again."

Sneering, she turned toward his voice and flipped the grandstanding changeling off, before continuing her walk, "Watch this, you little prick. Just because she's grown up and moved on, doesn't mean you can grow a set and start acting the part." Well and proper pissed, she was all but ready to start flinging hexes and rearranging his dental structure when the library loomed ahead, dark on the silhouette of the skyline. She'd been good, hardly using her powers since she left the Titans so long ago, and the last thing she needed, at this point in her life, was a Titan being sent to the hospital or calling in help in a scuffle with her.

Regardless, if he touched her again, he'd be losing that hand faster than he could say animal cracker.

Stalking into the main quad, she noticed the distinct lack of a certain green youth, and her mood improved slightly. This ended when she tried the library door and found it locked. Kicking the brick wall nearby she winced, and started walking back to the bus depot, happy at least she could catch the proper route home.

Slumping into the bench, Jinx thought back on the impromptu meeting with Beast Boy and the implications of what he said. "I wonder if her other teammates feel the same way," she mused, not really wanting to think about the collected body of what Titans were left and the new ones that would have likely joined, countering her in tutoring Raven. "What's with that anyway... I thought your friends were supposed to want you to succeed, not try and drag you down," the ex-Thief groused, kicking a the bus box with her sneaker.

Jinx felt at a loss as she got home, not really wanting to clean, but caught up on her school work. She tried to work off her energy with stretches and exercise, but found the activity more thought provoking than anything, which she didn't need. As always, distracting her body with work freed her mind to wander. Finally giving up on physical activity, she tried watching a movie, but nothing in her library seemed appealing.

Grumbling at her lack of distraction, she wandered into the kitchen and looked about, hands on hips. Deciding to try and make something to snack on, which hopefully would help her settle on a movie, she rifled through her cabinets for something to bake, but only found raw ingredients. It seemed that fate was conspiring against her today. Sighing, she pulled out her recipe box and leafed through, remembering the various points at which she'd picked up each entry.

Reaching the section on cookies, an odd thought occurred to her, and a smile slowly grew across her features. Pulling out a small tote, she gathered a few ingredients and some more recipe cards, a few measuring cups and her school bag. Somewhat burdened but amused with her own planning, she pulled out the note Yoko had given her earlier that day and giggled quietly to herself.

Fifteen minutes later, she shuffled her feet and glanced nervously at the dormitory door noted on the page. Biting her lip, Jinx reached up and knocked quietly, almost hoping that the address was wrong, or perhaps that the Titan was absent. A shuffling from inside quashed those hopes and she steeled herself for another meeting with the stoic young woman.

A bolt slid free and the door opened a crack, a single violet eye regarding her coolly from the space offered. "Mm, you. What do you want, Jinx?"

Not one to be put off just by a cold welcome, Jinx grinned and held up her tote, the baking supplies and recipe cards sticking out at odd angles, "Well, I was going to watch a movie, but when I started it, I realized I didn't have any snacks... so I went to make something. Lo, and I was out of sugar!" Raising a hand to her brow, she feigned sorrow and went on, head hung low, "so, thinking that perhaps you may have acquired more, I chanced to avail myself on your mercies."

"Uh. So you want a cup of sugar?"

"Basically."

"Right. Next time, drop the fancy speech and just say so," Stepping aside, the Titan readjusted the towel around her hair, looking like she'd just finished a shower. "Suppose you want to come in, so make yourself at home. As it is, anyway."

Stepping inside, Jinx noted the spartan decorating, and the lack of furnishings. As well as space. Where she'd managed to get a condo with the remnants of the Hive accounts, it seemed the Titans had shallower wallets for their members. Looking for a place to sit, she realized that the small studio apartment only had one real place to relax, that being a folding futon that doubled as a bed and couch. Placing her tote and bag on the small kitchen table, she removed her shoes and set them by the door as Raven stepped back into the bathroom, a bundle of clothes in hand.

A few minutes later, as she was inspecting the small kitchen, the sound of Raven clearing her throat got her attention and she spun about, grinning nervously. "Ah, sorry to barge in, I hope I wasn't interrupting anything?"

Raven's mild blush was quickly glossed over, as the Titan shook her head and motioned to the futon again. "No, just finishing up in the shower. Sit, I'll get your cup and the sugar."

"Well, I was thinking... um," fidgeting with the hem to her shirt, Jinx sighed and looked up, biting her lip. "I was thinking that if you'd like, I could bake the cookies here, and we could share them..."  
"Jinx, why?" Sighing, the Titan slumped into the futon beside her, uncaring of the way her bathrobe fell about her shoulders at the sudden motion. Jinx looked away, the sudden view of collar and shoulder causing her to feel somewhat scandalized, as well as bringing to the fore a blush of her own. "The other day you were hesitant to even speak with me, then you pull that stunt and try to help me out of pity-"

"No, Raven," shaking her head the ex-Thief shifted, trying to keep her eyes from the slow rise and fall of the Titan's breath. "I wasn't pitying you, not at all. I remembered when you told me, back then, "Everyone deserves a second chance." Do you remember that?"

"Robin had told me that, a long time ago. The person he was talking about betrayed us."

"Oh," at a loss the former Thief paused, trying to dredge her thoughts from the sadness that seemed to surround Raven's words. "Uhm. I suppose... I should probably just go. I'm sorry for bothering you again Raven," rising she was turning to the kitchen to get her satchels when a hand closed over her wrist, halting her and making the young woman turn to regard the Titan again.

Raven sat, the bathrobe she's answered the door in barely held in place by the slight shelf of the dusky skinned young woman's shoulders. From the height Jinx stood at, the rise and fall of Raven's breathing was distinct, as well as the proof she was well along in her late teens, no longer the youth she had fought long years ago it seemed. Turning her head sharply as her color rose, Jinx sat again, more to keep her eyes from wandering into that inviting darkness, than to relived the Titan's anxious look. "Ah... Raven. I'm sorry. About the other day in my home, about the stupid vending machine thing, the silly letter... You know me, probably better than you want to admit. You know how I get sometimes, my penchant for the dramatic. It only comes up when it's important."

"Why is it important, Jinx?"

Put on the spot, she looked back up into those violet eyes and faltered, seeing too much of herself in them. "Because, we're alike. Like you said... we're both here. Both away from things familiar. Because I feel like it'd be the right thing to do," she added, her voice going soft as she lowered her gaze.

"Right thing," Raven mumbled, taking her hand from where it lingered along Jinx's wrist. The two sat there, quiet in their own thoughts for some time before Raven startled the pink-haired girl, leaning across her and rifling among her end table's contents for something.

Frustrated by her seemingly out of place reactions around the Titan, Jinx fidgeted, finally making a small strangled noise as the Titan leaned into her hard and came back with a remote. "Sorry, was just almost out of reach. Kept scooting away," she murmured, a slight blush dusting her features. "Sorry," she said again, and Jinx could have smacked herself for her oversight.

Raven was likely well aware of her flustered state. "Erm! Would you like some cookies?"

"I think that would be... nice," the stoic woman said, her eyes quite intent on the static on the small TV.

"I'll get domestic then. You find something entertaining to watch, and after snacks we can talk about classes." Holding out her hand, Jinx gave Raven the low-intensity version of her smile, suppressing a giggle at the way she automatically drew back. "Deal?"

Warily taking the quirky girl's hand, they shook on it slowly and Raven nodded, "Deal, then. Do I need to pay yo-"

"Oh hell no. We'll work something out later on. For now, lets get those numbers where they belong.

"Up beside mine. But not passing – I have a reputation to maintain."

Smirking, Raven shook her head and stretched, giving Jinx a good excuse to run to the kitchen.  
"Right, reputation."

Grinning over her shoulder, Jinx stuck her tongue out slightly, "So what's your favorite cookie?"

* * *

A/N: Less dramatic and dire than Fate, something for me to idly write, and stay in the mood while I work on that other piece. Simple, clean, normal. Feedback on this one appreciated, as I don't use Beta's and I wonder if there's an audience for this even.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Characters here are property of their owners, none of which happen to be me.

* * *

Initial note: Not set during any other of my continuities. A day in the life. Mundane, but hers.

* * *

_**A Cup of Sugar, pt.3**_

"Unngh." Cracking an eye at the rising light, Jinx flinched and buried her head under the coverlet of her bed further. Shifting, she tried to get the small itch in her side before it... woke her up. "Somfabissh." Sitting up suddenly, she blinked blearily at her room, her mind still in that dazed half-sleep state.

Posters littered her walls and ceiling, making the room a chaotic sight. Most were of various movie or anime themes, popular things she'd picked up while in the dormitories back in the Hive. Never having the opportunity to decorate a room beyond a few odds, the sudden canvas of an entire condo was too much temptation. One wall was devoted to maps and prints of some of her favorite art pieces, the maps detailing trips to museums and exhibitions she'd attended. Being only a second year, first semester student, she'd not had the opportunity to see much, but it had made an impact.

Yawning, the pale Thief scratched at her side and looked around to the windows, shuttered blinds slanted to allow the morning sun in, but keep her space private. Making a regular pattern on her carpet, the sun's light made her squint, eyes not used to the brightness quite yet. "Too. Early," she muttered, sliding out of bed with a groan.

Mornings were routine, if not typical. Fighting the urge to sleep in, that slothful voice in her head went quiet quickly once she began her morning ritual. The bar over the bathroom door, which had been removed early on, creaked slightly as she reached up and bent her weight to it. Counting out the repetitions, she halted at thirty, holding herself half-poised as her muscles screamed at her.

Releasing the bar, she stumbled and simply fell to the floor, braced on hands and toes. Pushups, speedy and concise followed, as her mind came up to speed with the activity of her body. Lips pursed at the tension in her stomach, but she had a system. Bathroom was after exercise, unless alcohol was involved. It got them done faster. By the time she was done with the pushups, her arms were well and thoroughly warmed and worked, and her bladder pleading with her, so without pause she began on her lower body.

The guest bedroom was a small inside joke to her, as she doubted that with her history, she'd have many. True, after her disappearance from the limelight, and the money she'd spent on scrubbing her record, few would recognize her, but old habits die hard. Trust wasn't fast, or easy. The casual friendships she made at the college were only that; they existed there, stayed there. Flipping on the computer there, she loaded her usual morning session, letting the browser parse a few news feeds, keywords in memory filtering out pages into a separate window. Mail and her college homepage followed, with the latter informing her of any schedule or activity changes. All this went on unattended, as she'd learned a few things from an old roommate back in the Academy. Currently, her focus was on the treadmill, and the burning in her legs as she increased the speed of the thing, the timer counting down minutes beside the accelerometer. When the ding sounded that she was done, she let the track slide her to the floor and retreated to the bathroom and the relief she needed.

Starting the shower, she listened for any of the more strident alarms keyed into her computer, for urgent mail or other points of interest. Hearing one, she muttered and slowed the hot water to a trickle, wanting it ready when she was, but not wanting it emptied. Padding back to the spare room, she keyed the windows open and looked for the schedule frame, the alert there being the one she heard.  
"Afternoon lecture canceled, morning lecture canceled – eh? Oh. Holiday," she muttered, rolling eyes at her own forgetfulness. "Hm, maybe I can get some lab time in... bah. Closed." Keying in a search for available facilities at the university, she came back with limited results. "Mm. After shower," she murmured, turning off the display and returning to her bath.

Hot water settled the tension in her muscles, the warmth seeping into her bones and finishing the process of her waking. Each morning she drove herself through the same routines she'd picked up in the Hive, despite being neither criminally active, or doing anything to justify such activity.

It was just part of who she'd become.

Some people needed coffee, some a shower first thing. She had the shadows of her morning training calls. Soap and shampoo followed, a she inspected her hair, pulling some strands before her eyes. Grinning slightly she swept it back, her mind turning to the few times she'd tried to figure out the hows and whys of her peculiar coloration.

Being a natural pink was a bit odd. She wrote it off with her classes and professors as being a trend thing, but the eyes were harder. She'd tried contacts for a while, but frankly they didn't make them with the right pupil aperture. Her vision suffered, and the migraines were too much, so she just went without. In time, people just stopped asking, as her look stayed the same. Other people who tended to extreme changes in appearance tended to change them over time, but when she didn't, it became normal. That she wasn't actually changing her appearance never seemed to be a question. People assumed her toned muscles and "dyed" hair just a statement of her lifestyle.

Clean and awake, she shut off the hot water, counting to twenty as the cold came in force, making her grit her teeth. Shutting the tap off with a screech she hopped out, the sudden temperature change invigorating, if a bit harsh on tenderer parts. Wrapping her head in a towel, she went back to the spare room and finished her morning reading.

More news of registration legislature in various states. Metagene suppressing 'inoculations' being tested in less restricted countries. Grumbling she closed the usual news feeds and went to the newsgroup threads.

A few hits followed her delicate searches, her way of keeping tabs on her old friends. It was awkward, this dance. She kept tabs on them, not just to keep in the know of their wellfare, but also to keep abreast in the event someone was getting too close.

As much as Jinx missed her friends and Hive cell, she wasn't looking to be in the crosshair of a betrayed friend. Perhaps they'd not be bent against her, with the the utter disbanding of the HAEYP and Hive, but better safe than sorry.

Besides, a confrontation with any of them would likely end up with repair bills to her condo. She _liked_ her condo.

Finding the rest of the feeds useless hits, she closed them down, but recalled one that caught her eye. "Titans East Worries: Teen Terrors?" Blinking at the screen she pulled up the article and read through, brow furrowing as she did so. "Hmm. Seems the next set of kid crusaders is an apple a few feet too far from the tree," she murmured, reading about rumors of violence and riot tactics. Shrugging and secretly happy to be far from DC, she shut down the machine and made her way to the first floor, the second part of her morning calling.

"Breakfast is the best part of the day," she lilted, flipping on a radio in the kitchen as she dug into the idea domestic. The result was a tasty fruit smoothie, some oatmeal and a few slices of whole grain toast she could take with, on the way to class.

If class were on today, she reminded herself with a grumble. "So hard to break my routine, heh." Shaking her head slowly, she settled into at her dining room table and pondered the day.

She could go find Yoko, and work on some of the library projects. There was always something to do there, and she liked helping out where she could. There was her own home projects... she'd considered tearing out part of the garage and putting in a jacuzzi but the whole thing seemed silly. Sure, it'd be nice. But all that for just her seemed too much. She already felt like a queen in a castle with the condo itself, gilding the lily seemed excessive. Perhaps she'd...

A stray thought gave her pause and she blinked, realizing she'd nearly forgotten last night. _Raven_. Recalling the night, she stared off into the dark of her living room, rarely used. They'd watched some late night television, eating the simple oatmeal cookies Raven had preferred. After spending a good half an hour laughing at a particularly lewd comic, they'd talked about what subjects to focus on, and what they needed to do, timewise, to manage it.

They'd decided to mostly meet in the library, that being her comfort zone, and also considering her connections, the best resource for material. That, and it was a library.

Leaning on a hand, she debated calling the Titan and seeing if she'd be up to getting an early start on things. Checking a clock, she twitched an eye, realizing her typical morning routine usually started at sunup and only took half an hour. That made it 7 AM. Fairly sure no one sane would be up so early, the bad luck charm filed a phonecall to Raven for later.

For now, she was on her own. Gathering up her pack, she went back to the her bedroom, intent on going out. Books were removed, the pack set aside in preference for a smaller messenger bag. She redid her hair in a pair of tails, unmanaged bundles sprouting where her horns usually were, swept back and tied with a pair of cute skull-decorated bands. Tank top in black, skirt with enormous belt, oversize soled boots and some far-too-tall socks and she was ready to go. Tossing a few things in the pack, she grabbed her keys and phone, and said goodbye to the condo.

The residential area she lived in was something unusual for her. The larcenous activities she grew up doing were usually against targeted situations, rather than residences. When they were, it was always to retrieve some vital research, on someone's home computer or private access. Places like this were unknown to the Thief, and she felt out of place outside her home. Exposed. Alien.

Speeding her walk, she adjusted her sunglasses and tuned out the surroundings, her mind turning back to her recent trains of thought. Raven, she surmised, wasn't as her professor had observed, lacking focus or prone to loose it, she simply had little in the way of reference to work from, when it came to educational systems.

They'd talked briefly about past experiences with school, and to Jinx's shock, Raven had never attended anything like a school. Monastic tutors were the closest she'd had, and that was a far cry from an institution like Stanford. It was little wonder she was bombing classes left and right.

What Jinx had decided, walking home in the gloom last night, was that tutoring Raven would be likely the hardest thing she'd ever done. Not only did she need to help the former hero pick up and run with the topics she'd decided on, she had to teach the girl how to learn.

Either that, or teach her how to cheat at college.

Stopping at the crosswalk that led her to the rail station near her neighborhood, she looked back and regarded her block. Far from the all but coincidentally, the one dorm complex Raven called home, it struck her as odd that the Titan would have wandered by one day, randomly. True, she could have picked up on her name and address from a concerned friend or professor, but still.

"Why me?" she voiced quietly, eyes narrowing in the early morning sun.

Bells rang out distantly, and she turned into the rumble of the arriving train. "Mass transit is your friend," she murmured, smirking. It wasn't like she could waltz into the DMV and come out the other side with a license. With the intimate tie to the police, someone somewhere would notice, and there would be noise. Hard to tell what kind, but she imagined bad for her, would be standard.

Still deciding on a course for her day, she picked up a daypass ticket and found a seat lacking stains or stench, and waited for the train to depart. This route led to downtown, so she could likely find something to occupy her. Wrinkling her nose, she figured it'd be some time yet till she could think of something other than her task with Raven, so she gave in to her musing again.

It was a daunting idea, teaching the nearly twenty year old young woman how to handle classes and studying, but beyond it were other questions. How did she get admitted in the first place? Stanford has some rigorous testing requirements. For her part, she'd falsified some history, but taken all the tests needed on her own time. She didn't know that she'd do well, but when her results were excellent, she felt confident the school wasn't beyond her. After that it was a matter of taking placement and competence tests and convincing deans of the various college departments she could indeed rise to task. It'd not been too difficult, but how did Raven manage? Was there some hero educational program out there? Some analogue to the military one?

Blowing an errant strand of hair from her eyes, the Thief let her mind wander, the landscape passing by at speed. Downtown was walking distance from her home, but it was far enough to make it a day-long activity if done so. Planning on doing something later that was productive, she didn't want to be tied up with walking so much. As for what...

A smile crept onto her face, as a thought took root. She needed to do one of two things, to get Raven on track. One was teach her how to learn, how to forget what she knew and embrace new ideas, then take them and make them part of her knowledge. The other was how to read, observe and then play her professors like harps.

Perhaps, she reasoned, she could do both.

_I oOo I_

The bookstore wasn't open when she arrived, but after a small trip to a nearby coffee shop and a warm tea, she started phase one of her plan. Reference material.

"Excuse me, where is your... Science fiction?"

Phase two was a simple matter, and she pulled the list of Raven's classes from her pack and looked around, asking questions that made the shop keepers blink at her in surprise.

"We can order some of these, but they're limited print. It'll be somewhat expensive. Also, if they aren't available publicly, you'll need to speak to the archivists in the relevant university libraries themselves for custodial release of the material," the clerk told her, used to odd requests from students. Given, few were as specific as hers.

"That's alright, just get me what you can, I'll manage the rest," she reassured the woman, annoyed at the lack of resources she'd have to work with initially. "Also, um. Next day what you can, cost irrelevant."

"Yes Ma'am."

Eighty percent of her reference material was available to her, the other she'd need to acquire through a bit of social networking. Simple enough. But later. Phase three would come next.

Phase three was a trip to a local chocolate shop, where she knew one of the employees. "William! Hey! Loose the apron and come over here."

"I'm on shift, Jenny, what is it?" William was currently the shift lead at the small franchise shop, something he'd taken great pride in, being a culinary student. Planning on being a dessert chef, the position was a godsend. If a bit messy, he'd told her.

Grinning, she traced some patterns on the table, leaning over her hand, "I need some trade secrets, been doing some baking."

Rolling his eyes, the man sighed and regarded her. "I don't know, it's not really proper..."

"Oh pssh. I'm not selling them, I'm making my own. I'm sure you do the same in fact... or actually. Forget trade secrets, Willy. Let me borrow your notebook," the Thief lilted, her smile threatening to evict her ears.

Blanching, the chocolateer drew back, shaking his head slowly, "That's not really something I can do, I mean those are just rambled ideas. Some probably taste horrible-"

"Bullshit, and you know it," she countered, leaning closer. "I know you – you're a pro. I need some study snacks, for a massive project, and if I don't get to make them myself, then I'll be forced to go to... MalMart." Supressing a giggle at William's scandalized expression, she knew that clinched it. No self respecting baker, cook or craftsman of any sort would abide someone resorting to mass-produced generic fare when they could help it. She may as well have had a gun to his head.

"Alright, alright. I'll get you some recipes. What do you want?"

Smiling, she reached up and patted the cornered man's cheek, making him blush slightly, "You're a dear, Willy. And as for what I need...

"What do you have, for cookies?"

Skipping from the shop, the ex-Thief basked in the morning sun, feeling more alive than she had in some time. Perhaps it was having a goal, something other than college, or perhaps it was the idea of the method she intended to re-educate the young Miss Roth. Extortion also tended to make her feel rather accomplished, she remembered with a grin. "Poor Willy... never had a chance. Got some wicked ideas though. He's going places," she said quietly, hopping onto the lip of a small fountain in the downtown fairway.

Pretty enough, the fairway was the default neutral area of the shopping district. Benches, a fountain, nearby snack and oddity shops, as well as being central to the strip made it a bustling hub normally. At 9 AM, though, not so much. Having the place more or less to herself, she skipped about, mind a-whir with planning and ideas.

One thing bothered her though. Slowing as she considered it, she had to admit a few things actually fell into the 'bothered her' category.

First of course, was Beast Boy. If he was serious, they'd butt heads again. Probably sooner than later, as she had to assume he had either watch on the former Titan, bugs in the house which could possibly be him, she noted with disgust, or even the more direct method of simply being in contact with her. Any way he did it, soon he'd likely show up again.

Question was, what would she do about it? His agenda was fairly transparent, that being Raven's failing out of college and return to the Titans, she had to assume. If she would simply fade off and live a life away, he'd likely not have confronted her. Whatever he assumed or observed her doing, it was counter to his own ideas, so she had to assume it tied to her tutoring Raven.

What or why was fine, but she was thinking about a Titan here. The bottom line was she didn't need any attention from them. A few whispered words, some attention in the right places and her delicately built glass house would be falling around her ears. She had to shut him, or in the worst case, them, down ASAP.

Muttering, she fed a quarter to a nearby newspaper stand, deciding to catch up on the local yokels in the way it was easiest.

Heroes, despite all their ranting and dodging, loved publicity she believed. Without positive public opinion, they were little better than dangerous psychos, preying on supposed foes. With the backing of the public, they were empowered.

If the Hive had been working as an arm of the local government, in suppressing outside interference or subversion of the local way of life, they'd have been labeled hero too, regardless of the extremity of their actions. Villainy, she'd learned early on, was all a matter of perspective and public opinion.

"Titan's Foil Drug Shipment" the headline read, and she checked the current roster. Robin, but not the one she knew oddly, was on point. The team seemed to have undergone a few changes, in her absence. "Lesse then... there's Robin of course; one of them anyway. Some sidekick or cousin to Wonder Woman, complete with bondage gear," smirking, she sighed at the unimaginative nature of these next generation heroes. Villains had to constantly be in flux, dealing with all the things attacking them, from every angle. Supplies for materials, lack of help, the fact almost everything about them was frowned on in some way, and the result was a very flexible, very adaptive individual. Heroes, it seemed, suffered a fatal flaw Darwin had found early on.

Overspecialization. Carbon copy miniatures of current heroes, weren't going to fare so well when the villains they faced knew what was coming, just from the cut of the costume. She continued, noting the larger number of team members than she was used to. "Big "S" on that one's chest, probably a Supercousin. Hello Stone, nice to see you're still grinding around," smirking, she shook her head slowly, looking over her old friend's photo. Bitter memories followed soon after, and she moved on with a sigh, that nearly choked her on the next face in the picture. "Well well. Wally West. You're back in town," eyes narrowing the Thief kept scanning the photo, despite a distinct urge at that moment to hurl it away from her.

History was history. Kid Flash had been the catalyst to her betraying the Hive, leaving her life, and trying to find a new one with the Titans. All told, it hadn't went well. Sure, she was sometimes credited with being the driving force behind the Hive's downfall, even the routing of the Brotherhood in the Bay area. Afterward, she'd found that rather than open arms, she was watched with baited breath. Once a traitor, after all... It seemed they were waiting for her to turn on them next, something that stung more than she'd imagined.

Kid Flash had never mentioned that, in his idyllic monologues.

In the end, all it got her was a lonely few resulting years rebuilding her life, a target on her back the size of New Jersey, and a few more wrinkles from all the peering around corners.

Rounding out the new team was Beast Boy and a girl she didn't recognize, but seemed familiar. Standing away from the others, she was armed to the teeth, and wore what looked like scaled body armor. Shrugging, Jinx refocused on Beast Boy, sitting on a bench as she mulled the changeling's photo over.

Older, as she'd noticed the previous night, he also seemed... grim, she decided. He looked unhappy, not his usual self. Arms crossed, he had his back to the bulk of the team, only really facing Cyborg at all. Still, he was shorter than the rest which she assumed was just his frame. Regardless, he had to have some time on the others, which would add to his standoffish posture. "Thousand words," she murmured, running a finger from the line of his gaze, off the edge of the picture.

Shaking herself from introspection, she stuffed the paper into her pack and started on the way home, by way of her own library. The Titans issue would work itself out in time, there wasn't much she could do from just a newspaper. But at least she knew a bit more, and had a bit more insight into Beast Boy's particular issue.

As always, she found Yoko manning one of the busywork posts, this time organizing the shelving for when the library reopened. "Sweety, do you ever take a day off?"

"Only when you're not looking," the slighter girl replied, a slight grin on her lips. Noticing her state of dress, she let out a low whistle, grin growing slightly. "Day on the town or day out?"

"On the town, solo if you must know," Jinx answered, putting down the pack she'd hauled all over during her shopping. It wasn't heavy yet, but it was getting damn close.

Yoko laughed, shaking her head slowly. "Shame to waste that skirt. Oh well. You'll settle down someday," she quipped, dodging without looking as Jinx tossed a bookend at her. "Probably with a cotton candy machine, at that."

Growling, Jinx tackled the slight girl, the pair disappearing behind the desk. One of Yoko's feet flailed over the edge, followed by a slight shriek. "Not the ear again!"

_I oOo I_

"So you need Professor Middlefield's thesis work, and his undergraduate report," Yoko asked, a confused look evident on her pretty features. "I don't get it."

"S'ok, it's kinda hard to explain," Jinx murmured around a grin, toying with one of her ponytails. "It'd make sense, but I don't want to shift you any further to the dark side. You're just too sweet for it."

Sniffing, the shorter girl shuffled a few more softback books into her shelving. "Is that why you keep on latching onto my ear after the choke hold?"

"No, that would be the moaning and writhing, actually," the former Thief added smoothly, giggling when Yoko's eyes went huge and she toppled forward, forgetting she was holding an arm full of books. "Y'ok down there?"

"Peachy," was the muffled reply.

Smirking, Jinx made her way around the library, pulling out copy and adding it to a cart she tugged around. Satisfied, she sorted and discarded a few of the books and collected reports, focusing on relevant material rather than bulk. "Why is she teaching... oh nevermind." Grimacing, she scooted an entire stack of material to the side, finding it useless. "Have to use method one on her. Oh well, can't win them all," she quipped, stretching in her chair. The clock caught her eye and her stomach responded, lunchtime closing in. "Hey Yoko, what are you doing for lunch?"

The little Asian girl paused, blinking. "Hadn't thought about it. You?"

"Was thinking of asking that someone I mentioned to lunch, but I don't know. Do I come across too strong?" Fidgeting uncharacteristically at her belt, Jinx watched as her friend considered her quietly.

"Well, I know you. And aside from your fetish for biting ears, you don't tend to send mixed signals unless you're looking for something. Which is, admittedly, most of the time..." dodging the mate to the earlier bookend, she went on, smiling slightly. "If she knows you as well as you say, I don't think she'll get the wrong idea."

Jinx considered this, then perked up slightly. "Do you ever get the wrong idea?"

Yoko smiled at her, her eyes somewhat veiled by her bangs. "Constantly."

The pink haired Thief blinked, blushed then buried her nose in a book.

"Jinx."

"Yeah, Yoko?"

"The book is upside down."

"Oh shut up."

_I oOo I_

The phone had rung a few times, and Jinx was debating just hanging up and letting this lark go, but there was a click and pause, and the ringing stopped. Waiting a few heartbeats, she was about to write it off as a phone error when she caught the tail end of what sounded like a yawn. "Hello? Raven?"

"Morning Jinx, what's up?" Raven's quiet reply wasn't so much disturbed sounding as just sleepy, something she was trying not to laugh about.

"Well, actually it's early afternoon... sleepyhead. I was going to see what you were up to for lunch, but we can always make it breakfast," she teased, wandering somewhat aimlessly as she chatted, prone to walk as she used her cell. The quad was sunny and cool, the perfect weather for being outside. Figures, she mused. Perfect Bay weather, as always.

She heard shifting from the other side, and a small sound of what she had to assume was Raven stretching, before the Titan answered. "Uh. Sure, I guess. Where should I meet you?"

"I was thinking that place on the corner of Arbor and Second? It's roomy, and we'd not have to yell over people." Jinx liked the place well enough, though they're menu was limited. Sandwiches, tea and coffee, some small portable pastries. The real draw of the place was in their location, central to the university and shopping center, as well as space. It was one of the few two-story cafes in the area that she'd found.

The long pause from the other side of the phone had her chewing her lip till the Titan sighed, answering, "I don't think so, actually. It'd take me a while to clean up, I just woke up. I'd rather not make you wait for me. Maybe I'll take a rain check."

"Hrm. Ok, well how's this," she offered, just letting impulse lead her on. After all, it didn't always backfire... "Get some clothes, and toss on a coat. Come to my place and use my shower, and I'll cook. We'll huddle up on the books after, and put my ill-used living room to use."

Another pause. "I don't know, I don't want to impose..."

"Pssh. I'm too hungry to care. You'll be doing me a favor, as I have some recipes I want to work on anyway. Besides, I saw your shower."

She regretted the quip immediately, as Raven's tone went icy, "I like my dorm fine, thank you."

"I just mean... nevermind." Running a hand through her hair, Jinx leaned into the wind and sighed. "Sorry, I just... hate to see someone so cramped I guess. Ahm. You know, nevermind."

"It's... alright. It really is somewhat cramped," the Titan replied, quietly. "How about... is half an hour ok? I don't want to come by looking like a hobo."

Jinx stalled, nearly tripping on her own shoes at the idea of Raven looking like a hobo, a paper bag on her head and huge denim coat around her shoulders. Laughing suddenly she sat hard on the ground, unable to keep her balance.

"What? It wasn't that funny..."

"No! Sorry, just... hah. Ok, half an hour. And if you have a denim jacket, don't wear it! I'd die."

She could imagine Raven pulling the phone away from her ear to stare at it, and bit her lip hard to keep from laughing again. "Uh. Alright. No idea why, but sure. Not that I have one."

"Awesome. Uh! What do you eat? Almost forgot to ask." Cursing her own tendency to forget details, Jinx shuffled to her feet and started on the small trip to the bus stop, skipping slightly. Things were coming together. She always perked up when a plan was looking up.

"Mostly, I eat food," Raven replied in a droll tone. "I've gotten used to about anything." Pausing, she added hastily, "As long as it's not blue and furry, or suspended in gelatin, anyway."

"Uh," Jinx replied astutely, pondering where that last comment had come from. "O-ok."

"I'll see you in half then. Bye"

"Later," she replied, closing her phone as the bus pulled up. Hauling her pack up, she winced, the strap abusing her shoulder. Lugging the growing thing around for the last few hours had taken it's toll, and she muttered quietly about her packrattish tendencies.

Sighing, she toppled into a seat, sprawling rather unladylike as she settled. Setting the thing's strap to the side, she considered the overstuffed messenger bag and mumbled, "Note to self, hire Oompaloompa to carry that thing, sometime soon."

The older woman across the isle from her raised a brow at the former Thief, the look not missed on Jinx. "What? They go with everything this season, duh."

The woman decided it seemed, that this was her stop after all. Jinx grinned and kicked her heels up into the now-vacant seat. "Mm, comfy comfy."

_I oOo I_

"Coming!" she called, waving her potholders frantically to cool them, the pan she was trying to turn in the oven being stubborn. "Or, you can barge in unannounced and surprise me, that works too!" Grumbling, she cocked her head at the oven and shrugged, kicking the door shut with a flourish. Turning, she noticed Raven peeking around the corner, brow arched. "Heya, make it over ok?"

"Mhm, and so you know, I don't really 'barge' and all that," she answered quietly, before yawning behind a hand.

Shrugging, Jinx scampered over, taking Raven's backpack and leading the still lethargic girl to the second floor. Raven seemed to survey the condo as they went, quietly taking in the décor and layout as she went. "This is really a nice place," she said finally, as Jinx rounded the corner where the hall door to her bathroom was.

Smiling, Jinx looked around happily. "Yeah, it's home. Ok! Side door in there is my bedroom, there's soap and shampoo and all that in the shower, also some under the sink. I got a bunch, in case I change my mind and all," she added, grinning. "So, take your pick.

"Oh, and if you want to stay warm after, turn the room heat up. Bedroom door is um. Well it's not there," laughing slightly, she shrugged, heading back down the hallway. "I'll be in the kitchen, doing that domestic thing again."

"You seem fond of it," the Titan added, a slight grin on her features.

Spinning in place, Jinx faced the Titan again and grinned, "Eh, it's still new to me. But yeah, I kinda like it. See you in a bit!"

Nodding, Raven looked after the perky witch and then back to the shower, blinking slowly. "How'd I get talked into this again...?" Shrugging she started her shower, closing the hall door.

* * *

A/N: Review responses posted as a review to chapter two. Some may not find this very appealing, this chapter, it being just a 'day in the life' one. Regardless, I like it. It helps me define and feel out Jinx. Additionally, it adds depth, location, and color.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Characters here are property of their owners, none of which happen to be me.

* * *

Initial Notes: Turnabout is fair play.

* * *

_**A Cup of Sugar, pt.4**_

The shower was nice enough, seemed clean and there were plenty of towels, soap and the usual things one wanted, in a shower.

Raven just wondered why it was she happened to be considering taking a shower in the home of an ex-Hive member, particularly a home belonging to Jinx. "What I get for agreeing to things just after waking up," she mumbled, shrugging off her anxieties, at least temporarily. Sleeping in, the Titan had been in bed still when Jinx had called, and though she could dodge going out easy enough, a persistent Jinx was hard to derail. Jinx's interruption of her night had been a welcome, if badly timed surprise, as she'd just finished up her nightly meditations, and was planning on working on homework after. Perhaps that had swayed her abrupt trip which ended with her naked in another person's home.

The unsuspected pleasantness of company had made her forget those plans, last night. "Too easy to get sidetracked with her around. I wonder how this whole tutoring thing is going to work out," Raven mused, scanning the room once more, eyes pausing by the missing bedroom door briefly. Blinking, she looked closer, seeing that the original hinges were still in place, but the door itself seemed to have been simply removed. In it's place, or the reason why, was a single, reinforced and rather solid looking bar that sat at a height she could just brush with her fingers. "Never would have figured her for a fitness nut," she idly thought, but reconsidered. Seemed that many a thing about the other girl she'd assumed or taken for granted were wrong.

Shrugging off her briefly worn clothes, the Titan went about the business of waking up and showering. With the warm water came more alertness, and she considered the day briefly. Studying with Jinx, lunch, a chance to get out of her cramped, uncomfortable dorm. A spacious shower. Nothing, superficially to complain about. Beyond that, she _was_ concerned.

Jinx was Hive. Raven didn't believe for a moment that the few years since her time as a full-scale terrorist had changed that much in the girl. She had used the printout to get her personal contact information, as well as seemed to have no issues abusing school computer systems to send her spoof emails. Who knew what else she'd do? Was it right, even considering all that to hold it against her though?

The fact the quirky witch was doing so much better than her also rankled the Titan. Her original plan on teaching may have been hasty, given, but to be making one to two points lower than her in GPA was verging on the embarrassing. She had considered changing majors, but the grim truth of the fault for her grades caught up with her quickly. The reason she did badly in school, was that she'd never been. Study habits, quizzes, tests and homework were all completely foreign to her. Despite that, she was adjusting quickly, just not enough to salvage her grades.

Then there was this house. "How the hell," was all Raven could muster, too content with the heat she could coax from this shower. Hers, being tied to the dorm system, barely got above 'mildly tepid', whereas Jinx's sat steadily at 'lobsterize'. A number of things didn't add up. Those things gave Raven pause. Yet despite it... she had been the one to make first contact. Given, it was under the assumption that her Professor's suggestion was to someone normal. She'd had no idea when the door opened a few days ago, it'd be a taller, more matured Jinx, squinting at the afternoon sun that would greet her.

Sighing, she'd later berated herself on her weak ploy. "A cup of sugar... real bright." It was an idea she took from some older show on television. She'd initially wanted to proposition the girl Jennifer Wrangler to help with her studies, at a Professor's urging, but hadn't thought of a good way to make contact.

So she borrowed a queue from TV-Land.

She should have known something like this would happen, considering. Trying to salvage the attempt, she'd been surprised at how well the two of them seemed to be getting along, considering their history. History that apparently had gotten her sat out on the stoop, regardless.

How bitter she had been, Raven mused as she worked shampoo into her hair. The warmth was making her far too relaxed, but it was so nice she found herself humming quietly. Shrugging, she sang a few verses to a familiar song from home, her home in Azarath, as she scrubbed.

It was, after all, the small normal things that seemed to make her smile.

_I oOo I_

"Is it supposed to do that?" Jinx muttered before shrugging and closing the oven again. Wiping her hair from a somewhat damp brow, she leaned against the kitchen's counter and listened to the sounds of her shower running. Very faintly she could hear something else, but was at a loss to place it, but her curiosity was running rampant as it seemed to be coming from the shower as well.

Rolling her eyes at the images running through her mind, the former Thief put some final touches on the lunch she'd assembled, hoping she'd made enough for two as originally her food stores weren't quite up to feeding more. Muttering to herself about good intentions, she was pulled back from her inspections at a peak in the noise coming from her upstairs shower.

"What the hell is that?" she asked, eye twitching slightly at the impulse to run up and listen to the shower door.

She chided herself for being too nosy, and the rudeness of imposing on the privacy of a guest for such a thing the entire trip to the hallway door she'd led Raven to earlier. Staring hard at the door, she crouched and listened again, waiting for whatever it was to sound again. About to write off the odd phenomenon as a trick of her home's acoustics, Jinx was rewarded with the rising sound of Raven's voice, echoing around the shower and bathroom. Blinking, she circled to her bedroom, noting how the steam from the shower was curling along the ceiling in languid tendrils.

She opened her window to keep the humidity from fouling her posters when the sound, unobstructed by a door started again. Eyes widening, she turned slowly and stared through the door, the lack of a barrier giving the words definition.

It was singing.

Raven, was singing.

In her shower.

Blinking slowly, she crept up to the doorway and chanced a peek around the jamb, fog from the shower obscuring her vision. Despite it, she grinned at the image she saw.

Swaying back and forth behind the frosted glass, the dusky skinned Titan sang, voice cast in a language Jinx was unfamiliar with. Lips quirking into a grin, the Thief padded back to the kitchen, content in her newest theft. Humming the tune for the song quietly to herself, she tried to place it but wasn't succeeding. Setting some plates for herself and her guest, she turned on the radio to try and find a different song to fixate on, not wanting to embarrass or annoy the empath with her spying. Not long into the song Raven appeared, towel around her hair again but this time in clothes rather than a bath robe.

"Short shower," Jinx said, while flipping cookies off a sheet into a basket. The Titan only nodded, staring at her. The Thief fidgeted, doing odd things until finally she sighed and looked at the stoic girl. "What?!"

"You tell me."

"It was only a peek!"

Eyes widening slightly, the empath crossed to the table and sat, shaking her head. "Too easy."

Blinking, Jinx looked around the room before it dawned on her. "Oh for fuck's sake!"

_I oOo I_

"So what was that song?" Jinx mumbled around some sandwich, trying to keep some of the crumbs local. Raven smirked, seeing the attempt fail horribly.

Taking one for herself, the empath sighed, trying to think of the best way to explain to the quirky girl. "Well, for starters, what do you know about me?"

Rolling her eyes, the former Thief pointed a pinky at her and murmured around her food, "Well for one, you wear too much blue."

"Serious here."

"Was being," Jinx replied, grinning. Leaning back in her chair, she considered the question, expression turning serious. "Well, hm. Considering... I guess we can cut the dissembling and get to the point, between us yeah?"

Nodding slightly, Raven tried one of the cookies, nibbling on the corner. "These are good, what's the recipe?"

"Sorry, have to get Willy to let me tell, it's his," she said, looking out to the deck with a glazed expression. "Hive records... Classified as grade 3 operative – they topped out at 3, need-to-know. Real name unknown, all background information missing or fabrication." Recalling the information sent her back into memories she'd tried long to get past, but irony seemed to be prodding her more and more these days. Rolling with the punch, she continued. "Using JLA measuring standards, you were classed an Omega level event."

"Omega? What's that mean?" Brow furrowed at the reference, Raven tried the tea Jinx had made, finding it rather tasty. Being told what her Hive records contained felt oddly nostalgic, like she were an old soldier trading war stories with a buddy. The fact her friend was on the other side of the front didn't really matter. At least at the moment.

Jinx snorted, shaking her head slightly. "We had a nickname for you, in operations command."

When the former thief paused, rifling through her nearby backpack for something, the empath drummed her fingers on the table, causing her host to raise a brow. "Well, what was it," she blurted finally, impatience getting the best of her.

Pleased to see she could still get a reaction from the violet-haired girl, Jinx leaned conspirationally across the table before continuing. "Well, for one we called you Apocalypse Chick. Omega's are people who can cause globally affecting events, that involve extinction level circumstances."

"Good to know I was so highly regarded," Raven growled, shaking her head slowly. "And how much of the mechanics of that did you know?"

Cocking her head, Jinx grinned and stuck her tongue out slightly, "We were told not to piss you off."

"You really had issues with following orders didn't you?"

Laughing, Jinx offered the Titan an aged paperback book. "You have no idea. This is for later, just hang on to it," memories came easier, and with them, the impact of her current state. So fragile, she mused, thinking on her life. A small push in one direction or another, and it'd all crumble. Suppressing a bout of giggles, she grinned fully at Raven, noticing her eyes widen slightly at her change in mood. "Basically we were told how to handle, and fight you. Beyond that not much. Oh we knew about the prophecy thing; agents in places to get into the JLA records, via the Brotherhood. We just didn't care, and a great many details were likely left out."

Glancing at the cover of the book, she set it to the side, blinking. The Titan looked at her hard for a few moments before replying, "You're serious. How could they – you, not care?"

Studying the state of her nails, Jinx regarded her askance a moment. "Brainwashing helps. But you forget who you're talking about. Your apocalypse, our apocalypse. Same thing. Different flavor.

"Back to the point," she began, before Raven could go on about the madness her former organization was infected with. "Demonic power, empathy, emotional instability. The usual."

"Usual," Raven repeated, hollowly. Sighing, she shook her head and brought the conversation back where it was originally. "Well, the song you asked about was one from home, as much of one as I'd ever had. Where I grew up in Azarath."

Nodding, it made sense to Jinx. Raven had spoken, all be it briefly, about the place when she'd discussed schools with the Titan. Oddly, it hadn't crossed her mind that "Home in Azarath" would equate to "Which is someplace in another dimension". The words to the song she'd been singing didn't seem to be any language she'd heard, and this explained it nicely. "Catching tune though, have to say."

Shrugging, Raven blushed slightly, "It was a popular one, more of a nursery rhyme."

Nodding, Jinx stretched and seemed lost in thought for a few moments. Raven nibbled quietly on some of the food, but mostly watched her. She liked the fare, just didn't need to eat as much as the quirky girl had made. Minutes passed and the Titan was beginning to feel somewhat out of place, as she'd tried to enjoy lunch, but with Jinx so preoccupied that she wasn't even pretending to eat, the task was difficult. "Are you ok?" She asked finally, starting to worry something was wrong.

Snapping her head up, Jinx grinned and nodded, but wouldn't meet her eyes. Sensing something wrong, the Titan put her food down and turned her attention to her host. "Jinx, something's bothering you. Do you want to talk about it?"

Looking torn, the former Thief nodded, but stayed silent a moment more. When Raven was about to ask if she'd really wanted to talk or was just saying that without thinking, Jinx held up a hand to stall her. "Just... I guess it's kinda hard to talk about this sort of thing. I mean, with our history.

"The other night when I was walking back to the library, one of your friends dropped in to talk to me a moment. They asked me to not come in contact with you."

Taken aback slightly, the Titan could see why Jinx was hesitant to bring this up. "Why... who?"

"Beast Boy."

Narrowing her eyes, Raven nodded once, slightly. "He would, if anyone. He's always been nosy and overprotective-"

"Raven," Jinx started, expression grim as she leaned forward, her chin resting on interlaced fingers. "It wasn't about who I am, but I'm sure that didn't help my case in particular. What he'd said was more on the lines of 'don't help and let her get over this phase'."

Stunned silent for a moment, Jinx was surprised when the cup in Raven's hand broke, the glass slipping along her fingers and tearing wicked gashes in her skin. "Fuck, c'mere," dashing to her side, Jinx pulled broken cup from the Titan's now slack hand, the girl's violet eyes unseeing as they watched the slow rise of blood along the cuts. She rose woodenly as the other girl pulled her by her forearm and elbow to the sink.

Jinx didn't know what had caused Raven to crush the glass in her hand, but she knew it was her fault ultimately. She didn't even look the sort to be able to do so honestly, but she'd be damned if a guest in her home was going to get injured and ignored. She set the water to tepid and watched as Raven stoically regarded her hand, no emotion at all going through her face or eyes. That look bothered Jinx to no end. She pulled the small medkit that she kept in the kitchen out, setting some necessities on the counter with practiced speed. "Raven! Come back to me," whistling shrilly, the empath looked up with a blink, the haze lifting from her eyes.

"Sorry," she mumbled, brows furrowing as she looked back to her hand, wincing at the shards of glass still embedded in her skin. "Ow."

"God you're hilarious. Now hold this," handing Raven a tennis ball sized rubber duck, the former Titan blinked and looked between the quirky witch and it once, before voicing the confusion clear on her features.

"What is this for?"

Smiling mirthlessly, the former Thief rinsed a pair of tweezers in the tap. "Squeeze when it hurts."

"Squeeze whe-AZAR!" The duck squeaked loudly.

"Thatta girl."

_I oOo I_

"Wasn't as bad as it looked, really," Jinx noted, putting the last of the bandages along Raven's palm. The glass hadn't gone too deep, and not many had really done much damage, but at last one had been severe enough to make her suggest stitches. Raven solidly refused.

"I'm sorry about that, I guess I got a little carried away," in all honesty, she was still livid, but hiding it admirably. The congress of her emotions was in an uproar, various voices all crying out at once. Most were raising questions, such as if Jinx was being honest, if Beast Boy really would do something like that, and why. Following that train of thought, was what she needed to do if it were true...

Shrugging, Jinx settled the medkit back under the sink and looked back at the Titan worriedly. "Listen, I'm sorry I made you upset, I had almost decided not to tell you but... well I figured you had a right to know." Sighing, she went about clearing off the table, and putting away the dishes. "You can go sit in the living room, there's a TV there, but I don't know how it's set up. Never got around to it."

Nodding, Raven padded quietly to the couch in the other room, taking her backpack with. Doubts about Jinx's honesty vanished, as she let her empathy touch the girl's mind as she spoke. Still wrapped in her own thoughts, the Titan blinked at the remote and the large flatscreen, eye twitching as memories of Titan Tower flashed in her mind. No screaming or noise of game assaulted her ears here, though, and with a small smile, she ticked the power on the remote.

Static met her efforts. Glaring slightly, the empath rose and inspected the device, wondering at it's disuse. "You really don't watch this much do you?"

"Came with the place, but yeah. I think I pay for cable with the internet, but damned if I've hooked it up," Jinx called from the kitchen, poking her head around as she saw Raven up and wandering in her peripheral. "You don't have to mess with it, I'll get it in a second."

Snorting Raven grinned over her shoulder at the girl, carrying two stacks of plates and some tupperware precariously balanced somehow. "I'm fine, besides, you're busy."

"Mmph," was Jinx's only response. Raven went about inspecting the television. Her time with the other Titans had given her ample experience to repair and do basic work on entertainments systems, plus just being around Cyborg had it's fringe benefits. A quick analysis showed the major issue – luckily it was well within her ability to fix.

She hooked up the cable.

The system came to life, and while Jinx put away the remainder of their lunch, Raven programmed some channels into memory for the system, in the event the quirky girl decided to use it. "How long have you lived here?" She asked, curious how long the system had sat neglected. It was a nice entertainment arrangement after all.

Jinx came out of the kitchen, carrying her own pack and looking thoughtful, "Oh, you got it running, cool." Sitting on the far side of the couch, she cocked her head and seemed to consider the question a moment before answering. "Probably a year and a few months."

Boggling at the other girl, Raven settled into the couch with a small sigh. "Well, it's working now if you want to use it." Pulling out some of her textbooks, the Titan tried unsuccessfully to suppressethe feeling of Deja Vu that the situation brought on.

Years ago... she'd been sitting in the Tower, in much the same place as she was now. Folded up on the end of the couch, holding a book. Across the room she could see the others, playing games, talking, being themselves.

Beast Boy was as always being hyper competitive with Cyborg, who was humoring him because Cyborg liked making people happy. Spying into the kitchen, Robin and Starfire were sitting, talking quietly to one another, looking as lovestruck as usual since that last overseas mission. By the computers at one of the tables they'd brought in, sat some of the new Titan's East members, local from a meeting with their own team. Speedy and Bumblebee sat across from Jinx and Kid Flash playing cards, all eyeing each other skeptically.

"Ah, why did I pick this memory to fixate on," she wondered, remembering that night. Regardless, she let it play out...

"Call," Karen announced, putting her bet in. Her goggles up during downtime, despite the rest of her bee-motif uniform being in place.

Jinx's look of glee was obvious, and Raven wondered what luck she'd had in the past playing poker, being so transparent. It was then she noticed where Flash's foot was... and looked away quickly. "Fold!" she announced with a flourish, as Raven looked to the boys for their part.

Speedy seemed torn, but finally shrugged and made his move. "Raise fifty," he said simply, as Raven noted his demeanor. Of the four, she figured he had the best poker face, but knew his tendency for chance taking. Likely he was bluffing.

Flash grinned and seemed to not be paying as much attention as the others, which caught up to him as she looked from Bumblebee and Speedy, "Oh right. Fold."

"God, you two need to just get a room," the archer said with a sigh. "Can you at least pretend to play cards the next hand?"

"Sure! Can you pretend to not look at my chest instead of my face?" Jinx quipped, earning a laugh from the rest of the table, while Speedy reddened visibly, despite his claims to the contrary. The next hand was Jinx's to deal, and she did so with remarkable flourish. Raven assumed they had plenty of time to play in the Hive, or perhaps the girl had picked it up in prison, she supposed with a smirk. She'd certainly spent her fair share of time there.

The deal went well enough, and the players kept fairly good time. Flash seemed to be rolling well with this hand, playing with some confidence. "Raise," he said again and the turn went to Karen once more, who was looking more and more sour as time passed.

"Hrm. Call," ever careful, she was doing this more and more, but the looks she was giving the pink-haired former Hive operative weren't missed on Raven. Something was there... and it made the empath nervous.

Speedy sighed and folded, looking to Bumblebee briefly with a nod. Getting up, he crossed to the hallway, on the excuse of using a restroom but Raven didn't miss the stares he managed at Jinx and Flash's cards on his way past. The rest of the table went on, only the quirky witch and her beau talking, as Karen seemed to get more and more reticent.

With Speedy's return things went downhill quickly. "So which of you two won?" he asked, looking pointedly at the pair across from the table. Blinking, Jinx pointed to Flash as the speedster made a show of his winnings. "Thought so."

Karen snorted and went back to shuffling, her round to deal. "Vote to ban the feline from dealing."

Silence fell over the table as Jinx's expression went from contented to disbelief. Flash simply looked between the two while Speedy had a small smile on his face. "What's that supposed to mean," the former Thief asked finally, her teeth grating audibly.

Shrugging, Speedy leaned back in his chair and leveled a knowing glare across the table. "I saw the hands. We got nothing and you two both end up with solid deals? On your deal? Do the math."

Flash was about to say something, when Jinx interrupted, which was quite a feat considering the speed of the boy's mouth. "Listen you bad B-movie standin, if you want to say something, maybe you should loosen those tights so your balls will get some bloodflow. You suck at being vauge."

Bristling, Karen's hand on his arm stilled the archer. "See? She's getting defensive about it. Maybe we should call it a night."

"Guys," Flash started, standing after he set his winnings aside on the endtable, leaning across to level an even stare at his east coast teammates. "Just because she was in the Hive, doesn't mean she'd cheat at a poker game, c'mon."

"Says the boy who won," Speedy snorted, while Jinx simply glared death at him.

"Seriously, how can you trust the little traitor, I mean remember-" was all Bumblebee managed before the table flipped up and smacked the bitching girl square in the face. Stumbling back she glared at the snarling visage of an enraged Jinx as she settled her leg back to the ground, the noise getting the attention of all present.

"That's it. I not going to take bullshit like that from a spy who was so pathetic at her job she had to sleep her way into Blood's good graces," Jinx snarled, making Bumblebee pale and sputter in response. Speedy looked wide-eyed from one to another as the bad luck charm rounded on the still prone girl.

"Y-You promised! I trusted you, and you promised never to tell-" Bumblebee screeched, her fist leading her charge strait at Jinx. Jaws dropped, all but Speedy's as the tableau played out.

Sneering again, Jinx ducked to the side and let the enraged powersuit clad girl speed by her, missing widely. "Then perhaps you shouldn't accuse me of bullshit in front of everyone, when I'm not doing anything. You think I can't be trusted – maybe I can't. Maybe I only turned on the Hive for my own survival." Glaring, she strode up close to Bumblebee and ducked under one of her electric-laden punches. Coming back up she took the girl's chin in hand and yanked her face up to Jinx's, the girl's eyes glowing an ominous neon. "But get this, and get it now. I'm not petty. I'm not cheap, and I sure as fuck don't need someone who's as bad if not worse than me, accusing me in public like I'm trash." Extending the arm holding the girl's chin sharply, Bumblebee went flying back, as Jinx turned her back to the now useless poker table and stalked away.

The sound of the door to the dormitories was the signal for the others present to start breathing again, as Karen shook and ran for the dorms herself. Robin came in, looking from the fleeing girl, to a slack-jawed Cyborg and then back to Speedy, the East coast's lead. "How much of all that was true," he asked quietly, settling beside the still stunned archer as he lay against the wall.

"You don't understand, but all of it..." he said quietly. Sighing, he figured nothing could fix what just happened, but some reasons may dull the impact. "Blood was impossible to fool. So she made some sacrifices, and put herself in some dangerous situations to get information. Spies have the worst jobs ever, and women worse than most," he spat, looking away from the room.

"No one was judging Karen, Speedy," Robin said quietly, as the rest of the room digested this latest drama. "I mean, Blood messed with everyone he was around."

Shaking his head again, Speedy stood and dusted himself off. "Well, it would have come out eventually. It became public at the Hive at one point... which is part of why we had to extract her," Scrubbing a hand through his hair, he cursed. "Damnit, if Jinx hadn't cheated that deal none of thi-"

"Will you drop that?" Kid Flash snapped, suddenly in the archer's face. Raven winced at the tension in the boy's hands, while Speedy stumbled almost falling again. "She didn't cheat, just drop it."

"Will you listen to yourself? We all know where she's spending her nights, but just because of that, you don't have to defend her." Robin was about to step between the two when a sudden noise caught their attention, the doors to the dormitory opening after.

Jinx stood, hauling Bumblebee into the room by the ruined remains of her flight pack. Both girl's were bruised, and Jinx's lip was bloody, but aside from the East team's second in command, she also had a duffelbag slung in tow. "Keep your pets under control," she spat, shoving the girl to the side as Starfire came to see what had happened, catching the unconscious girl as she was unceremoniously tossed her way.

"I'm done. I've been here for months, and nothing changes with you people. So fuck you, I'm done," she mumbled, the venom in her voice apparent none the less. Without so much as looking back, she'd walked to the elevators and was gone. Cyborg was busy accessing the security cams for the dorms, bypassing the usual gender-locks that let only the females on duty see those room, as the images on the main screen made them all wince. The last few minutes hadn't been pretty.

The grainy recording picked up as Jinx went into her room, leaning on the door to her room and laying her arm across her eyes. She sat there for a few moments till a shock seemed to jolt her away from the portal, a moment later Bumblebee barging in swinging.

Things went from bad to worse, as the suited girl was no match for the former Hive operative's training. Jinx didn't pull any punches, as Cyborg finally got the audio to work they had more to think about.

"-you care? Those are my peers out there damnit!" Bumblebee screamed, swinging wildly for Jinx's face. The feline didn't so much as blink, but took the hit anyway.

"Do you _think_ I care? Listen to me, you two faced little bitch," Jinx snarled, yanking the other girl close by her outstretched hand and putting her elbow in the way, catching the suited girl high in the stomach. Sounds of retching followed, as Jinx leaned down beside the prone Bumblebee. "Those people you betrayed, sold out to the Titans? Those were my family. It hurt turning my back on them, but I tried, you have no idea how much, to get them out.

"But you people only see two colors. Black and White. I'm not a civilian, so in a box I go," she said calmly, stepping back as Bumblebee rose again, panting and winded. "I've been toeing the line since that day Flash brought me here, against my ideas. You know how sick it makes me to be here? But for him I try, because he tried for me.

"And every time one of you pissant little kids gets your tights in a bunch," ducking another wild swing, Jinx seemed to sigh, sweeping a leg under Bumblebee and taking her feet out from under her. The girl landed on her hands and knees, and without preamble Jinx slammed the heel of her boot into the girl's pack, the arcing of it's failing systems knocking the prone girl out. "I end up being blamed for something else," leaning she said something else, but the room missed it, so Cyborg rewound and turned up the volume, attempting to catch what was said again.

"- didn't cheat. All I did was try to be here, be one of you. Apparently, no matter how hard or long I try, it's not enough."

Flash was gone as they turned to look at Speedy and Bumblebee, still being held by Starfire.

Raven pulled herself from memory, as Jinx seemed to be staring at her. "Bad daydream?" the feline asked, blinking at her. Raven took a breath and nodded slightly, looking away from those eyes.

That day... perhaps it was why she remembered. Beast Boy's warning, Jinx. That day had been the first step in her separating from the Titans, while for Jinx it had been the last straw. Soon after, Robin had parted ways; He'd come to the decision that the things he'd been asking them, some of them barely more than children, to do, and the things that had happened were more than he could stand. Details of the Hive operations had been the last step, as he put it. Slade, Terra and Raven's Prophesy had exhausted their leader, left him feeling empty and powerless to defend them, his friends.

In the end, he blamed himself for much more than was his fault. His last act to try to protect the team was to try and disband the Titans, but he'd been overruled by the rest. Regardless he left, going back to Gotham alone. Starfire had been lost and utterly broken after, and soon had left for space. Cyborg had let them know that she'd retaken her role as ruling force on Tamaran, and was well, after a brief and undetailed message reached them. Cyborg, the Tower being the last traces of his family, wouldn't leave, and so was made leader for a time, as things got worse and worse. The call went out, and more young people answered, the Titans roster in a period of massive flux.

It was soon after that that Raven had parted ways. Feeling lost in a group that was either broken-hearted from their friend's absence, or made of new faces trying to fill those spaces, she'd been unable to keep on. Seeing in those they saved day to day something she envied – a past, a fate that had nothing to do with the end of the world, she made the decision to try and join them.

Her leaving had nearly broken the team again, as she was the cool center of the storm that raged in the Tower. Beast Boy had nearly gone into hysterics, while the new members seemed to shrug it off well enough. Cyborg had been quietly sad, but she could tell he'd seen this coming. What funds they'd had, he'd set aside a portion as a stipend, a savings for her.

Due to collateral damage and their own expenses, it wasn't much, but it got her by.

"-Raven?"

Blushing, the empath snapped her head up from where she'd blanked out again, lost in memory. With a small start she realized she'd been staring at Jinx's chest. "Gah-"

Smirking, Jinx looked down and tugged at her shirt slightly, a light blush dusting her cheeks. "I know they're nice, but you were out there for a while again," turning serious on a dime, her expression dropped into a more concerned cast. "Are you sure you're ok? Maybe those cuts affected you more than you thought. Want to lie down for a bit?"

Her suppositions on the girl kept being remade, as she dealt with her. The other day she was mocking ransom notes to get in touch with her, now she was bandaging her hand and offering to take care of her after an injury... Times truly had changed Jinx, despite what she'd felt not hours before.

Shaking her head, the empath stretched quietly and smiled reassuringly at her host. "No, no. Just lost in memory. Nothing so serious," she lied, partially. Looking around for her notebook, the Titan noticed she had taken one end of Jinx's wall-spanning couch, while her host was on the other. Thinking back on her time in the Tower, she resolved silently to change, at least some things that she had the power to do so.

Picking up her things, she earned a questioning glance from Jinx, who stilled in what she was doing till the Titan sat down a few feet from her, turning and folding her legs under her as she sat. "I don't like shouting across a room," she said quietly, making Jinx laugh slightly.

In truth... she'd always felt bad for never stepping in during that argument so long ago. She could tell Jinx hadn't cheated, and maybe if she'd tried... but if wishes were fishes, she mused, we'd all cast nets.

What she could do now, is try. Close those gaps, and show someone that she trusted them. Maybe it was too late, or just her trying to lamely undo the past, but she had to admit...

It was nicer, to sit closer to someone.

"And this has nothing to do with your breasts, despite my staring, so you know," she added, causing Jinx to sputter and almost spit her tea. Smirking at the Thief's surprised expression, she gave in and laughed, pleasantly surprised herself when she joined in.

* * *

A/N: This chapter tempts me to rewrite. I was originally planning on only putting things in Cup, in Jinx's perspective, with less POV from others. Realizing I'd set a precedent already breaking that... I just did it anyway. For those of you noticing, it's mainly a Jinx story, but Raven is the 'other' here. Changed the category from Humor/Romance to Friendship/Romance, to reflect how this is proceeding. For those of you looking for a fast slash... sorry. Not my cup of tea.

And yes, in the timeline I set, Kid Flash and Jinx were an item. Defining the breakdown makes this more AU, but it doesn't matter.

If I felt like it, I'd make Robin wear pink, purple and lime green, as his default colors and you'd still read. Why?

Because I _just may_, leak my cookie recipes. That's why.

More to come. I don't know where this is going, because I write it as I think it up. If you follow Fate, more due there soon.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Characters here are property of their owners, none of which happen to be me.

* * *

Initial Notes: To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.

* * *

_**A Cup of Sugar, pt.5**_

The TV went silent as Jinx clicked the remote with her heel, "Now that we've had our daily dose of drama, lets get to work!"

Lips curling in a slight grin, Raven simply nodded and pulled out a notebook, before noticing that the girl opposite her hadn't moved. Looking back up, she noted that Jinx had pulled out the two paperbacks, somewhat aged and yellowing along their page's edges, and a small pad of her own. Sitting and looking through the windows a moment, the Thief snapped back to the here and now and grinned. "First things first; you have no idea how to study. So we'll work on that, figure out how to fix it, then move on.

"So, Raven, when you do sit down to do your assignments, what do you do?"

Considering the question a moment, the empath sat her pen down. "Usually, if it's one that requires answered questions and the like, I read over it, and answer what I know. After I go back and find the others via the material or notes I took," feeling supremely nervous at the quirky witch thinking she was doing things wrong, or worse, laugh about it, Raven fidgeted with her hand, running a finger along the bandages there.

Nodding, Jinx considered the dusky-skinned girl sitting nearby. "Distractions or whatnot as you study? I imagine you do alright in quiet, do you keep resources on hand? Think ahead about things like that.?"

Bantering back and forth, Jinx came to the conclusion that in all practicality, Raven had good study skills and habits, it was just a lack of reference and ground material. "Alright, so... I have to ask. How did you get placed into Stanford? Don't take it the wrong way! I just wonder, without any kind of testing or background."

Shrugging, Raven considered it a valid question. "It's alright, I don't mind. There's a program, I think started by the JLA, that teen heroes in "service" for a year, get a stipend to go to college."

"Sort of like a Upcoming Heroes Scholarship program? That's handy," Jinx noted, figuring it had to be something of that nature, considering the former Titan's living situation. "Alright then, what I see is this... You lack basic knowledge and references, that are built on for more complex topics," counting off points, she made a note of each in her notebook.

"One; Calculus. You need some boosters in precalc. That one's a killer, and next semester will absolutely rock your GPA if you're not prepared.

"Two; History. You've got a good grasp of ancient and world topics, but the modern ones are lacking. That's simple enough, we get you some cram notes for highschool grade exams in the modern topics.

"Three; Writing. We need to get you some reference and templates for proper notation and essay form. Once you get that, it'll help in the other topics.

"These are the basics. Once we get those covered, we can move on to other things with a bit more strength," biting her lip, Jinx felt the weight of this project and found it a rather daunting one. She was likely to loose points herself, in the time and effort it'd take to get Raven up to speed. Considering this, she almost cut back on the amount of her own time she'd spend on it, put paused, her pen mid-tap.

She'd agreed to help. If she didn't do her best, then not only would she know it, and it'd ride her conscience, but Raven would surely not do as well, and although she didn't owe the Titan anything, cheating another for her own benefit had taken less an appealing draw. Call it a circumstance of her situation, but since she'd parted ways with the Hive, she'd been making up for her bad karma where she could.

"Are you sure... we can do this?" Raven's voice pulled her from her thoughts, and Jinx looked up and grinned slightly. The Titan seemed pleasantly daunted – good, as if she took this too lightly, they'd fail.

Nodding, the bad luck charm flipped a page. "Yep. We can, it's just going to be hard," raising a brow, she regarded the young woman sharing her couch. "Are you up for it?"

Raven signaled her affirmative immediately, gratitude evident on her features. "I am. I... really want to make the best of this chance. And I hate failing."

Laughing quietly, Jinx nodded in understanding, "Just don't loose focus. It's not about pass or fail, in the end but how much you've learned. Sure grades are set up to reflect that, a measure of your retention and all, but the bottom line is if you actually learn it, or just manage to go through the motions real well.

"That's part two of this." Pausing, Jinx looked up and met Raven's eyes steadily. "I'll be honest with you, Rae. I can't get you fully up to speed in the time left before exams."

Blinking, the Titan sighed, disappointment evident on her features. "If that's so... why go forward? Won't I fail anyway?"

"Nope. Because studying and cramming information into that cute little head of yours isn't the only thing we'll be doing," standing, Jinx considered her options and felt that she did need a bit more help in this than she could manage herself. "Be right back, I need to get some things in order. Look over those novels while I do so," seeing the mix of curiosity and confusion on Raven's features, Jinx hoped she'd not bitten off more than she could manage.

Out of earshot from the Titan, she pulled out her cell and dialed a familiar number. "Yoko? Hey, about that favor you owe me...

"I owe you a favor? Isn't it the other way around," Yoko added, voice quiet despite the closed state of the library.

Smirking, Jinx leaned on railing of the kitchen's deck, looking up into the perfect blue of the sky. "Of course not, I keep track, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't?"

"Gracious?"

"Tip: wear a helmet for the next few weeks."

Sighing, the girl on the other side of the phone put aside their verbal sparring. "So what is it I can help with, Jenny?"

"I need to get access to the archives and library from home. And I don't mean the usual intranet access on the main college site," the sky wheeled slowly overhead, the reassuring blue dome reminding her that no matter what happened, there'd be another day to work, to live. The thought made her smile, if a bit ruefully.

Yoko paused, thinking about what was being asked. "I think... yeah. I think we have virtual private network access for staff and special approval situations. I take it you want to bypass all that?"

"Probably. I don't really have the luxury of time for all the red tape. I'll probably get the wheels running for an official mainline soon, but till it's approved, I need a back door."

"I'll see what I can do," Yoko answered, making Jinx's already slight smile grow. "Now, for my payment..." the smile faded slightly.

"I suppose this being one of those possible 'get-you-fired' situations, I should at least show some gratitude," the former Thief said, albeit grudgingly.

A brief pause, punctuated by a quiet laugh from the other side told her Yoko agreed. "How about... tomorrow after my shift you take me out for coffee, then?"

Nodding to herself, Jinx thought about it and figured time would allow her to do so without much loss in study opportunities with the Titan. "Sure, where'd you have in mind?"

The smile in Yoko's voice was unmistakable, when she answered. "Second and Arbor, quiet place you seem fond of... and dress nice. I like my dates to be pretty. See you then."

After getting herself somewhat excited about going to the small shop with Raven earlier, Jinx was pleased she'd get to go none the less soon. It took a few moments, however, for the last few words Yoko had said to register.

"...date?" Blinking, the Thief looked at her phone hard a moment, thinking perhaps she'd misheard the quiet librarian. Reviewing the conversation again, she shook off the unreal aspect of one of her closest friends, someone she'd grown used to being able to kid with and say anything to, asking her out.

The fact that said friend was female wasn't low on the list of reasons why this was striking her as rather awkward. All the mock flirting she'd done with the girl over the last few months of knowing her flashed through Jinx's mind, and she winced realizing that perhaps she'd been sending her friend the wrong signals.

Paling, she remembered the conversation earlier that day. "Well. Fuck."

Still, Yoko was a pretty girl... for a girl. Scrubbing a hand through her hair, Jinx dismissed the bothersome thoughts for later; she still had Raven's issues to deal with first and foremost. Especially considering she was still waiting, on the former Thief's couch.

Dashing back inside, she found the Titan quietly engrossed in one of the paperbacks she'd picked up that morning. "What do you think?"

Looking up, the Titan furrowed a brow and sighed, using a finger to mark her place. "It's odd. Style is nice, the work is expressive... but he writes women somewhat unrealistically. I mean especially for the time during which he wrote, you'd never find-"

Jinx cut her off there, holding up a hand. "It's not about that, though. Forget the time frame, this is science fiction. What do you bring out of it, when you distance the book from the time it was written in?"

The Titan mulled this over, looking at the cover once more. A woman, arms up and staring above her, stood upon a half shell, her hair swirling about her to conceal her modesty. The image made her color rise very slightly, "She's strong. From what I can gather so far, she's intelligent and strong."

"It's a good beginning," Jinx replied, sitting back beside the Titan. "In the other book, there's a few more characters I want you to get familiar with. You don't have to read it cover to cover, but specifically I want you to pay attention to Zebidiah. He's your teacher for a lesson soon."

Raising a brow, the Titan nodded and grinned slightly, as she penned something down. "So does this mean I get to bring you apples? You're giving me assignments and now I have reading to do, should I call you professor?"

"Don't you dare," the Thief threatened, before pulling out some more of the resources she'd collected that day. "For now, we're going to lay some supports to build on. Take this," handing the Titan a ratty looking workbook, Jinx pulled out a text that seemed to match it. "We're going to work first on bringing you up to date in modern history."

Such began their work in earnest, as for the next few hours Jinx learned that Raven wasn't just bright – she was brilliant. Absorbing information at a startling pace, the former Thief dismissed her earlier worries that she'd have trouble teaching the girl, at least when it came to Raven's ability to retain data. They'd managed to get most of the data for Europe and north Africa done before Raven's stomach growled noisily, making both girls pause and laugh.

"As good a time as any, pack up you – class dismissed," Jinx said, stretching before flopping back onto her couch. Her guest stretched as well, all be it more modestly. Lazing there, Jinx couldn't help but recall the phone call only a few hours previous. Obviously not being able to talk to Yoko regarding it, at least not till tomorrow, she bit the bullet and resolved to ask her present company, "Hey, before you head off... could I talk to you a sec?"

Nodding, Raven finished packing up the novels and her study material. "Sure, what is it?"

Shifting her head side to side, the quirky witch considered how to word things. "Well, hm. I have a friend, and we flirt back and forth sometimes. Mostly it's all in fun – I mean she is cute and all, but I've never-"

"She?" Raven interrupted, raising a brow.

Jinx paled, not really planning on letting that shoe drop till later, but realizing it was done, let it be. "Yeah, she." Shrugging, the Thief went on, "Anyway, she's probably the closest friend I have at the moment, and well," sighing, she paused again, grasping for words. It was odd talking to the Titan, especially about this, but really she needed to vent to someone, and with a warm body local, it just made things easier. "I really don't want things to get weird. I don't have a good track record for long relationships."

Raven sat quietly, before shaking her head slowly. "I don't know what to say, really. Other than I'm likely the worst person to ask about such things." Settling her pack on the ground, she settled more comfortably on the couch and regarded the prone Thief with some amusement. Something in her, probably her go-for-broke nature made her feel more at ease, despite their history. Regardless she wasn't ready to reference her own relationships for relevance, "Very limited experience, you see."

"I know, just... gah. It's weird. I mean we flirt sometimes, we joke around. I didn't think she was taking me seriously – maybe she isn't, but it's different now."

"Are you sure she's thinking of this as seriously as you're taking it?"

"She did call it a date," Jinx answered, sighing. Her mind went back to the last few days, her interactions with Yoko and the peculiar way that their friendship had progressed. In truth she was wholly at fault, but it wasn't something she had experience with either. Yoko was small and adorable, and it just seemed natural to flirt with her.

That train of thought derailed her heavily, and she jerked upright, eyes wide. She pored over her memory, remembering the night before when Raven had been searching for the remote, body laid across her own. Her color rose sharply. "Raven, do you believe it possible to suddenly develop an attraction to the same sex?"

"Suddenly, as in not having one previously?" Considering the question, she shrugged and shook her head. "I'm really not sure. I suppose so? I don't know." Something seemed to be eating at the Titan, and Jinx was nervous she was making her uncomfortable, so stilling her roving mind the former Thief picked up the remote and clicked on the television, for the first time since she's owned the condo.

Raven noticed the gesture, and sat quietly, watching with the unsettled girl beside her. Jinx's mind was a wreck, unsure of even the simplest things suddenly. Questions flooded her thoughts, from her own awkward relationships with friends, mostly male and platonic, to the one romantic dalliance she's been in, with Kid Flash. Memories of Wally made her wince, but through it all she kept stealing small looks to the Titan sharing the couch with her. She'd really had precious few female friends, either in the Hive or out. Her thoughts turned to the possibility she'd always been attracted to women, given the possibility which she just lacked. Suddenly analyzing her own motivations through a microscope, she noted that her eyes tended to linger along the Titan's face, and often her neck.

The sound of the Titan's voice jerked her back to the here and now, "I've wondered something, but never really had a chance to ask... it's a bit invasive I suppose." Raven fidgeted slightly, looking to her host for any signs that this line of question wouldn't be welcome. Jinx simply nodded, figuring that it was only fair with her own rather odd query.

"After... well after you left the Tower, we never really heard from Flash again. He went back East, but we never got much information on... well you." Suddenly finding her words less than adequate, Raven stalled, frustration apparent on her features. "And him."

With a heavy sigh, Jinx looked to her through one half open eye. "So you want to know how that went." It was more a statement than question, not surprising in the former operative's mind considering. She'd want to know what happened to a teammate as well, were they to suddenly up and leave, then reappear a few months down the line, broken inside.

Standing, Jinx walked from one end of her rug to the other, memories clouding her vision as she touched on them. "After I walked out, he of course caught up," She laughed bitterly at this. "Go figure. Anyway, so we talked. It really wasn't much of a secret we were an item, and he was a big talker anyway, at times. I didn't mind," finding a place to lean, she rested against the wall, not wanting to sit and talk about this. Sometimes she needed to move, to think.

It was rare for her to think about this, outside of sparring against a sandbag.

"We went... away. No other way to say it. I wanted far away from everything. No Titans, no Hive, no Bay area. It was like a honeymoon, really. Went on and on..." she smiled, remembering those days. Idyllic. Rare. Fleeting.

"Time caught up. He... Wally was a driven one. He needed to be a hero. Have you ever met someone like that? Maybe it was his life, growing up with The Flash. Maybe it was just a consequence of being young, like the rest of us. Why doesn't matter. He had to go back, eventually.

"But I wouldn't." Bitterness was something she'd gotten used to, gotten used to being made of, forged by, and driven before. It laced her voice, now. "He needed to be a hero. But he didn't need me," smiling at Raven, the former Thief didn't note the recoil as the weight of her emotions settled on the Titan like focused light. "He left. Promises, pretty words, time, all the things we'd been. But what he wanted was that spotlight. That rush." Raven tried to say something, but it seemed less like she was an audience to Jinx's words so much as a bystander during a storm "It's funny too... I think it is anyway. You only get one shot at some things. Some things you can never take back, never have again. I gave up... a lot. To him.

"And he _walked_ away. Didn't even speed off, like it was all that important, for all his words. He walked." Smiling mirthlessly at her guest, she wiped at her eyes, stinging a bit in the afternoon sun. "Sorry. But there you go."

"I'm sorry, I had no idea," at a loss, the dusky-skinned girl stood, moving to the Thief's side. Before she'd realized what she was doing, she'd wrapped her arms around the taller girl, and pulled her head down to her shoulder. "I'm sorry," she murmured again, slipping her fingers through candyfloss hair.

Jinx didn't know why the Titan had come to her, but at the moment she also didn't care. The memories hurt, more than she'd thought they could. She left them behind so long ago, it felt like. A lifetime – hers had passed since then. She'd remade herself, put those things behind her and yet it still cut to her heart to remember them. She gripped at Raven's shirt, bunching it in her hands and before she'd realized it, her sobs were wracking her, the Titan's arms around her the only thing keeping her standing. "I miss him," She said, not sure if it was truth. Maybe she missed the future she'd seen in him. Missed the life they'd had, carefree and warm.

Nodding against the other girl's ear, Raven made small soothing noises, stopping for a moment to take a breath she started singing, quietly. Jinx recognized the song as the one from earlier, Raven's nursery rhyme. Calming, she listened, a feeling of irony washing over her again, as the cadence of her breathing settled into the song's time.

Here she was, trying to tutor the Titan and get her college life sorted out, while Raven mended her broken heart. Pulling back after some small time, she grinned at Raven, sniffling. "You sing nice."

Raven laughed quietly, reaching up to wipe at Jinx's eyes with a shirt sleeve. "Lots of practice in the shower," Stepping back, she let her arms fall, suddenly feeling a bit awkward in the taller girl's embrace. It was warm, comfortable even. She'd not realized human contact, even in sorrow could be so comforting. It was a small stab of guilt that she'd taken some pleasure from Jinx's pain that made her let the girl go, despite the desire to do nothing of the sort. "I... are you going to be ok?"

"Oh, yeah I'll be fine. This is nothing," Jinx quipped, breaking the moment by sniffling again. They both laughed, moving away from the small place on the wall that had held them. Raven turned to her bag and gathered it up, looking to the door with a small pang of annoyance.

"I think I'll be busy tomorrow, till late afternoon. Labs," she said, trying to sort her schedule by memory. "I'll probably be done by eight."

Nodding, Jinx walked the Titan to her door, resisting the urge to sniffle again. "That's fine, I have that thing with Yoko. Uhm," feeling a bit awkward, the Thief looked to her guest, naked hope on her face. "Would you mind-"

"I'll be by at around eight thirty," Raven answered with a wry smile. "You can tell me all about it." She'd managed to get halfway through the door, when two strong arms wrapped themselves around her, stopping her in her tracks as a warm breath of air washed over her ear. Her eyes widened then half shut...

"Thank you," Jinx sighed, hugging the Titan. She was grateful for her, her quiet solidity. How odd, she thought quietly, but didn't pull away. Raven slipped a hand free and rested it on one of Jinx's, wrapped around her waist, till the taller girl drew back, blushing slightly and smiling.

"See you tomorrow," Raven said lamely, as Jinx nodded and shut her door.

With a head full of cotton, the Titan made her way home in the afternoon glow.

_I oOo I_

"Why is this so weird," Jinx muttered, for likely the fifth time that day. She'd made it back home at three, and was in the process of deciding if she wanted to snack a bit, to dull her hunger or just wait and be a pig when her date played out.

She still felt awkward, thinking of it like that. She'd missed Yoko at lunch, as the slight girl hadn't been in the library, but there was a cute little note in the fridge on her own packed meal that let her know she was looking forward to tonight.

Preoccupied all day with things to come, she'd nearly tripped over people's feet going to and from lectures, forgotten her recorder once, and then spaced out so badly she had to ask someone for their lecture notes.

Scrubbing at her hair, she growled and threw herself into a chair. "Damnit, why did my best friend have to ask me out?" A snarky little voice, her own, answered that perhaps she shouldn't have been biting her ear on a daily basis, if she intended on the girl not getting ideas. "Shut up, you! Like you know anything..." sighing, she leaned forward, her forehead making solid contact with the marble countertop.

"Ow."

Passing the time, she spent an hour working on plans for further lessons with Raven. She also put in orders for the other other books she'd need, talking to librarians in other universities to grant loans or scans of the material she needed. Idly, she wondered if this method would be something Raven would actually agree to, but in the end it wasn't an immoral situation so much as simply unorthodox.

Satisfied that things were in order, she glanced at a clock and winced slightly. "Almost took too much time there," she muttered, dashing up the stairs to put on clothes for her evening.

The cafe wasn't upscale, more casual. Picking through clothes, she tried to remember the last time she'd been on a proper date. Brow furrowing, she discarded those thoughts. Sighing, she peered around in her closet before deciding to simply vary a theme, as it seemed that Yoko had liked the outfit she wore on the town earlier. Short skirt, mid-thigh and a sleeveless blouse, she pulled out, but looked at critically. Rifling through a drawer, she came up with a collar to match the belt, grinning lopsidedly. "Hope this doesn't start any awkward S&M conversations..." Shrugging, she felt the outfit was fine. It suited her, which was what mattered.

Putting her hair up in a pair of tails, she checked the clock and scooped up her pack on the way out of the bedroom. Not a purse kind of girl, she tended to just vary the size of her backpack. This one was a small messenger, maybe big enough to put a pair of textbooks in.

The trip downtown went by in a blur, the train it's usual non-event. Downtown itself was a bit busier than she liked, but the noise and bustle wasn't unpleasant. She made it to the corner of Arbor and Second fifteen minutes early and decided to check if Yoko had beat her here.

"Excuse me," She tapped the host on the shoulder, startling the young man.

"Sorry! Game night," he said abashed. "Table for...?"

"Checking to see if my d – uh. Frie... Date." Sighing, she shook her head, smiling apologetically. "Date. Is here yet. Small girl, about so high," Gesturing, she wondered at the man's drifting attention, as she held her hand up to Yoko's height. "Small, cute, and Asian."

"I'm cute?" Slipping under her outstretched hand, Yoko grinned up at the startled Thief, as the cafe's host laughed quietly. "Sorry, couldn't resist."

Rolling her eyes, Jinx relaxed. Yoko's sense of humor never seemed to dim, and it was nice to remember that no matter what the outing was called, she was still one of the nicest people she knew, as well as her best friend. "Such a brat. Table for two."

They took a seat by one of the second story windows, giving them a nice view of the street below. The game was playing, a local team she figured with the number of people there, but most of them were downstairs while the upper tier was left mostly quiet. "Kinda busy out, did you make it ok?"

"Oh yeah, I parked by the hospital. The deck there," Jinx had forgotten that Yoko drove, something she sometimes overlooked in people she knew. Her own limitations in such things caused her to occasionally forget such seemingly mundane items.

They ordered drinks, the shorter girl surprising her by starting off the night with a margarita. When Jinx raised a brow, she grinned, holding up her menu to whisper behind it, "how am I supposed to be taken advantage of if I'm not drunk?"

Blushing heavily, she earned another round of happy laughter from her date.

Drinks came and went, Jinx having a few of her own. Food was light but tasty, toasted sandwiches for them both. Yoko seemed to smile more as the night wore on, often looking out over the street with a content expression. "Jenny, want to go for a walk?"

Head a bit hazy from the few drinks she'd had, Jinx had to admit a bit of fresh air seemed like a nice idea. "Sure, sounds stellar," grinning she settled their tab and held out her and to her date, "come along little girl; there's candy in my van."

"Ooh," Yoko purred, curling into Jinx's side with a grin as the taller girl led her out into the crisp nighttime air. They both breathed deep, taking in the cool air before looking to one another, laughing. "Take me to the fountain," Yoko murmured, grinning as she hugged Jinx's arm.

Nodding, the Thief got her bearings, the cool of the early night clearing her mind slightly. She noticed the warm pressure of Yoko's body wrapped around her arm and fought the urge to twitch her hand, the sensation not unpleasant. Swallowing a small catch in her throat, she lead the tipsy girl to their destination. "Yoko, what made you ask me out?"

Looking up at her date's catlike eyes, she grinned, "Mm, I like being 'round you. You're fun. Being tall and strong is a bonus," she quipped, poking at Jinx's rather solid bicep. Blushing furiously, the Thief looked away.

She liked being as active and fit as she was, it was a comfortable habit, one she'd not soon abandon. Yet some things bothered her about it. One, she seemed to garner some odd looks for her trim physique, something she had to admit may lead some to assume the wrong thing. Stereotypes being what they were. Second, her diet and activity level kept her trim, in other ways. Even as short as she was, Yoko's figure was more pronounced than her own. She wasn't boyish – not at all, but even former terrorist agents got self conscious when billboards made you feel like you were fifteen again. It took her a moment to realize Yoko had slipped an arm around her waist, her hand resting along her hip as she'd walked, preoccupied. Looking down at the slightly bouncing head of brown hair beside her, she smiled slightly.

Perhaps there were worse things than being on a date with someone that liked your company and thought you were attractive.

The fountain surprised them, as it was laying quiescent till they walked by, when it suddenly sprang to life. Yoko squeaked and cuddled closer, making Jinx laugh. "You're shameless, you know?"

"Says the girl who's always tackling me in the library," Yoko replied, looking up with a wry grin. She held Jinx's gaze for a few moments, before a small cool hand reached up, pulling the Thief's lips to her own with a gentle tug at her collar.

Her hand may have been cool, but her lips, breath were warm. Still tasting strongly of salt, Jinx gave in to temptation and licked the other girl's lips, eliciting a small, barely-voiced moan. "Unfair," Yoko breathed, making Jinx's spine tingle.

Sighing, the Thief broke the kiss, looking to Yoko's eyes. She saw something she'd missed those other times in the library, joking around and spending time at odd points. There was an intensity there. A focus. She shivered. "You know, that was the first time I've kissed a girl," she admitted, proud that her blush wasn't quite rivaling her hair. Yet.

Favoring her with a startled expression, Yoko paused, sitting on a familiar bench. "First?" Blinking, the girl seemed to look through Jinx a moment before her eyes widened. "You're... uh."

"Hm. Wondering," she answered the half-question, leaning down to quiet her date's anxieties the nicest way she could think of. Small arms snaked around her shoulders as the slighter girl breathed a sigh between Jinx's lips.

This kiss went on, a bit longer perhaps than either had intended. When Jinx finally opened her eyes again, she found they'd acquired a small audience of glances. "Maybe if we're going to keep that up, we should go somewhere less public," she managed, before realizing what precisely those words would mean. Stuttering, she was silenced by Yoko's quiet laugh.

"Oh, that was funny... it's ok. I want to sit a bit longer though," looking to the splashing fountain, she seemed to get a wistful expression on her face. "I've always lived here. In this town. This fountain was put in when I was younger, and I've played here since." Looking around, she pointed to the shop beside the candy shop, where Willy worked. "There, was a small ramen shop. I used to go there all the time."

Jinx looked around, trying to picture the are through Yoko's eyes. "It must have been nice, being able to come out here anytime," her own voice a bit strained, the former Thief tried not to let bitterness into her voice.

"Tell me about when you were younger, Jenny?" Yoko asked, her eyes glinting in the early afternoon gloom.

A small cold hand seemed to grip at Jinx's heart at the question. She realized with a growing sense of sadness that as nice as this moment was... there was a world between them that wouldn't let such simple things, companionship and closeness, happen without a cost. "I..." she let her voice trail off, mouth working silently. "I don't know if I can," she finally managed, her eyes veiled by her hair, head lowered.

Yoko looked at her, blinking slowly. "I'm... sorry. Was that a bad question?" She squeaked again as the taller girl took her hand and pulled her up abruptly, an apologetic grin on her face.

"No, but I need – if... I should explain something if you really mean this." Jinx managed to choke out, her mind a wicked conflict of ideas and emotions. She liked Yoko. Liked her company, the way she smelled, the cool small hands she seemed to like holding onto her with. Her voice and her lips... but she wasn't a fool. Yoko had no idea who she really was.

Perhaps it was time to change that.

* * *

A/N: And you thought it'd be a Raven/Jinx romance. I'm not giving anything away – you'll have to either wait and see, or step away. Patience. Life has never been something to simply speed you to the goal.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Characters here are property of their owners, none of which happen to be me. Correction – Yoko's mine.

* * *

Initial Notes: One step at a time.

* * *

_**A Cup of Sugar, pt.6**_

"You... lived here?"

Wreckage, construction equipment and the aura of destruction dominated the view, as Jinx nodded slowly. She kicked her feet as they dangled from the roof, having brought them to a nearby parking tower, one in sight but not too far from downtown. The wind picked, bringing with it the sound of the town behind them, as it blew Jinx's hair out before her face. "Feels like a lifetime ago, but it's not," she said quietly, tucking a stubborn lock behind an ear.

Yoko looked from the girl sitting beside her, arms crossed over the bar of the railing and feet dangling over an unnoticed dozen or more stories, back to the veritable crater a block away. Blinking once, she looked back to the tense girl beside her, "Wasn't that... from the news?"

"Hive headquarters," Jinx offered quietly, a small sad smile curling her lips. "Home."

_I oOo I_

The chiming of her doorbell roused the former Thief with a start from where she'd sprawled on her couch, and she screamed at it almost immediately, "We don't want any!"

A heartbeat pause, before a muffled voice carried to her from the direction of her door, "But I have tea?"

"I lied, we do want!" Jinx cried, flipping up from the couch and nearly careening into a wall. Righting herself with a spin she landed against the frame of the front door with a muffled thud. Pulling the portal open a crack, she leered at the blinking Titan standing there. "Well hi there."

Raven, taken slightly aback by the other girl's rollercoaster behavior, just stared for a handful of heartbeats. "Oh. Um, I brought some teas, you may like. Figured I could do a little to add to lunches?" Holding up the small wooden box, she smiled slightly, feeling more and more unsettled by the former Thief's expression.

Giggling, Jinx reached through the door and tugged the hapless Titan inside, ushering her into the kitchen, "Hmm, so tell me which ones you brought?" Bustling about at a rather fast pace, Raven was left to stare as her host seemed a vague blur in her own habitat. She was tempted to let her empathy sweep over the hyperactive ex-Thief but resisted the urge. "I have a few of my favorites, some odd ones I haven't tried yet, and some of my staple ones," she answered, realizing she'd fallen quiet in thought too long.

Nodding, Jinx rounded on the Titan and pulled up a chair, settling beside her with a sigh. "Water should be all set in a sec," running her hand through her hair, the former Thief stared out the windows, mind running over the day as she probed the darkness outside with her cat's eyes. "How was your day?" she finally asked, somewhat lamely as the silence between the two stretched out.

"It was fine," the shorter girl answered almost immediately, as if expecting the question. Jinx sighed as she tried to settle her thoughts into something less disorganized, the effort more difficult than she'd expected. "And yours?"

And there was the question she'd been afraid of, Jinx mused. "It went well, uh. Water," Hopping up the former Thief retrieved some mugs and the steaming pot, rounding back to the kitchen table while Raven picked and sorted her teas. For a moment, Jinx stopped and stared, the scene spread out before seemed... comfortable. Like she'd been doing this for ages. Shaking off the odd impulse, she settled things onto the table, taking the offered tea from Raven with a small grin. "So which is this?"

"Lemongrass, to settle you," Raven answered, grinning as Jinx blushed slightly and looked away. "I'm just saying, you seem tense and preoccupied. What's on your mind?"

"Too much," the former Thief groaned, leaning over to peer through the small steam from her cup. Sighing, she started shuffling thoughts, trying to put them in some semblance of order, something she could relate in conversation as opposed to her own internal whirlwind. "Classes. The date, how complicated things are suddenly, after so long of just... being. I suppose." Swirling the steeping leaves, she looked up, Raven's expression guarded. Jinx grinned slightly. "Why do I get the feeling you don't really want to hear about my date?"

Blinking, Raven's mouth worked for a moment before she turned her face away, lips set in a line. "I... I'm curious. But if you don't want to talk about it-"

"That's not what I said," the ex-Thief said quietly, cutting her off. Sighing, Jinx looked steadily at the Titan till she returned her gaze, a somewhat sad expression in her violet eyes. "Raven, will you just tell me what it is that's on your mind?"

Laughing suddenly, the Titan favored the Thief with a sardonic grin, "Turnabout fair play? Fine," pulling her tea from the steeping water, she seemed to fold in on herself, expression going guarded and cold while her eyes relayed nothing. "I guess the other day, when we were talking and sharing some history, something clicked." Meeting her gaze, Raven continued, "I liked your company, not just because you're helping me. Not just because we share some history and can relate, or go to the same college. I liked your company," emphasizing Jinx's part in those words, the Titan went silent after, complacent for the moment to scrutinize her tea.

Jinx had almost laughed herself, as she looked back and forth between her tea and the Titan. What was that... was Raven saying...? "I mean, I like... " At a loss for words, Jinx sat and watched the steam from her tea fade, as it cooled. Another long silence spread between them, things unsaid crowding out the silence surrounding them.

"So. Tell me about your date," Raven's voice, lacking inflection roused the former Thief finally, and she looked up. Raven's gaze was cool and quiet, a marked difference from the subdued but growingly expressive girl she'd come to expect.

"It was nice," Jinx's mumbled response was barely a whisper, refusing to look up again. "We had some dinner, talked some. Came back home."

"Well that sounds rather interesting, really. I mean if it was nice, shouldn't the things you did warrant a few more than nine words?" Failing to keep her cynicsm in check, the Titan winced, realizing the bite her woulds would carry.

She would have apologized but Jinx held up a hand, stilling her. Jinx shook her head, eyes still on her hands. "No need to apologize... but you counted? Kinda weird... look. I'm sorry. I didn't know-"

"Neither did I. Not till later. But I'd like to know how it went, because..." her tone, the ice around it melted as she spoke, and finally the Titan reached over, laying her hand on Jinx's own briefly. Jinx watched, her expression stoic for once, but didn't pull away. "For all it's not been so long, I'd like to think of you as a friend. I want you to be happy."

Looking up, Jinx smiled, and loosed a breath she'd not realized she was holding. "I don't think there's anything wrong with that, and despite being from opposite sides of the tracks... I like being around you," the Hive girl said, stirring her tea with a finger. "Odd isn't it? How time changes things."

Nodding, Raven considered that phrase, perhaps more seriously than Jinx had meant. "It does. Yet some things don't change."

"Do you know how weird it is," Jinx asked, her eyes strained as she stared through the table, not seeing it. "How weird... being ex-Hive, and trying to live a normal, sane, typical life? It catches up. Like here." Pulling her collar down, Raven blinked suddenly, seeing the tattoo below Jinx's collarbone for the first time. It was a small thing, but simple and easily recognized. The Hive symbol, with a small numeric code beneath. "Some day, not matter how I hide it, what I do, this will come up and all over again, the Hive has a hand in my life. It makes sure that I never really move on," Jinx said, voice going quiet as her memories caught up with her. "Human operatives, or those that can pass, didn't get the brand. But the wilder Metas, we get tagged. Makes us easy to keep tabs on. Track," bitterness welled up in her voice, but Raven kept contact, urged her to continue. "If someone got arrested, held, this would be the way we'd be found again. Assets.

"All that isn't important, but this is," stabbing a finger back at the now-covered brand, the former Thief looked up, eyes watery. "I can't hide who I am forever. At some point, all this, this illusion I built for myself, will crash down." Resting her head in her hands, the girl shook her head, "I care about Yoko, it scares me to think someone like her could suffer because of me. Scares me to death."

"Did it worry you when you were with Flash?" Raven's voice was quiet, as she absorbed what Jinx had said, the implications. How much the former Thief seemed to care about the quiet librarian.

Shaking her head, Jinx laughed a little, leaning back in her chair as she spoke, the weight of her own thoughts lightening. "No, he was the Flash remember? Why would I worry... we could have handled anything thrown at us." A rueful smile creeped along Jinx's features. "Now, I have so much to lose, and so does she.

"It's funny," she said, and Raven couldn't imagine she spoke to anyone but herself, "when I was in the Hive, I had nothing. I was free to do anything, free to fuck up, fail and move on, and the only people who'd suffer, the only one that mattered was me." Looking up to the Titan, her eyes looked haunted, something in her creaking from the strain. "Now? I feel like I'm living in a house of cards, and fate's tied a blindfold around my eyes."

She understood now, the anxiety behind her growing friendship with the other girl. Yoko wasn't a hero, or a villian – she was just Yoko. It made Raven wonder why Jinx had agreed to this at all, if she was so concerned, but she kept that question, and the voice that asked, buried deep. For now. "Does she know?"

Nodding slowly, Jinx motioned to the living room, and the two moved to the more comfortable couch it offered. "I took her to a place I go to now and then, that overlooks the wreckage of the Hive. I go sometimes when I'm thinking, remembering who I am."

"Jinx, that place... your tattoo, your name, all that. That's not who you are," the Titan murmured, as they settled onto the couch. With a small pang she noticed the distance Jinx sat from her, but let it go quickly. The Thief was still wrapped up in her own thoughts, after all. "Who you are, what you are – you define that yourself. No one else can do that to you."

"That's a pretty idea, Raven. It really is, but you know it's a lie," despite the recrimination in her words, Jinx smiled at the Titan. "I don't blame you for it, the Titans had nothing to do with making us what we were, with what we did. But there's nothing I could have done to change the labels we were given."

To Raven's surprise, the Thief pulled her closer, turning her so her back was to the taller girl. Easing her back, Jinx started to unbraid her hair, laying it out on her shoulder. "Jinx, what are you..." she stilled, as Jinx's finger laid on her lips.

"I'm indulging in a little bit of girl-girl bonding that I missed out on in the Hive. You're my hapless victim in this. Sound fun?"

Raven's shoulders shook with quiet laughter. "Alright, my captor, do continue what you were saying," trying to settle her suddenly shaky nerves, the Titan attempted to relax as Jinx's hands carefully worked on her hair.

"When I was growing up, Metas were either kept as pets by labs and experimented on, shoved off on orphanages and then to government watchdog agencies, or observation slash detainments camps, or like me, ditched the paper trails and went solo," Jinx explained, curious as to why Raven of all people didn't know this. "So basically, because of what I was, I had to be either hidden away and kept under guard like some kind of walking bomb, or go off on my own, and survive day to day."

Nodding, conceding the point, Raven still argued for her views, "But did it mean you had to be a criminal?"

"Honey, what kind of looks did you get, before you let the admissions office know you were a Titan?" she asked, smiling down at the now blushing Raven. "I thought so. People judge, quickly. Sometimes you never get a say in how."

Some of what Jinx was saying was familiar, but Raven had to admit... she'd never thought about it in perspective. "So, most of the people in the Hive...?"

"Runaways, orphans, kids that were scooped up by the Brotherhood patrols and sent in. The minority of them were those that came on their own." Smirking a bit, Jinx tickled the Titan's ear with a tuft of her own hair. "Enough about the Hive though. Suffice to say, I worry because some day all that will come back and bite me on the ass."

"Well... it is a cute ass."

Blinking down at the Titan, Jinx raised a brow. "You looked?"

Shrugging, Raven closed her eyes, having relaxed into the other girl's lap. "Just because no one thinks I have emotions or attractions, doesn't mean it's true. I just have to... had to, keep them under control very tightly."

Cocking her head to the side, the quirky girl raised a brow, thinking over those words carefully. "I remember... there were notes. Things in the Hive database, about your emotions. How they tied in to your powers," watching the Titan's expression, Jinx let her thoughts untangle as she ran slender fingers through Raven's hair. "You just said 'had to', rather than 'have to'. Has something changed?"

Nodding slightly, Raven looked up with a slow smile, "Without my father and all the dangers he represents anymore, I'm free to explore my emotions more." Making a wry face, the Titan continued, "Well, mostly. I still have to be careful not to get too emotional. But I'm making progress."

Letting the violet locks slip through her fingers, Jinx considered all the things Raven had said, as she coaxed small tangles from her hair. "So, does this mean you date? When we, well when I was visiting at the Tower, you seemed pretty withdrawn."

Shaking her head slightly, the Titan shifted, throwing her feet up on the armrest, while her arms crossed just above her waist. "I don't really date I suppose. I had a pretty bad experience a while back, and then there was my father to worry about." When Jinx made a small curious noise, the Titan continued. "Well, there's a good chance... well very much like what you were saying. Something bad would happen, either because of me, or because it was me."

Jinx started a bit, as the girl beneath her hands made a low, happy sound, and the former Thief realized she'd let her fingers gravitate from parting and smoothing her hair, to simply making small patterns on her temples, across her forehead slowly. "Mm, sorry. Letting my mind drift."

"I don't mind, if you don't," Raven said quietly, her color rising. Closing her eyes again, the Titan let her words follow the drifting of her memory, as opposed to her immediate thoughts, "I never really thought about any of the others like possible... well dates. Lovers. Relationships." Cracking an eye open, she noticed Jinx's blush and grinned slightly. "Sorry. Maybe a bit blunt."

"No, I guess I understand. I was more like a babysitter or substitute mother to most of my cell. I mean c'mon, Gizmo, Mammoth, Billy and Seemore?" Laughing quietly, Jinx leered down at the Titan as she opened her eyes at the sound. "Though, have to admit, Billy had potential."

Snorting, the Titan wrinkled her nose. "I couldn't have gotten past the accent."

"Yeah, it was pretty severe. But then again I wasn't really planning on talking to him..." Jinx smirked at Raven's cough, her silent laughter.

"You're horrible. But hold on, I'm a bit confused," On one hand, there's Flash, and we all know you guys pretty much paid for that one night clerk's vacation with how often you needed 'supplies'," holding her hands above her head, Raven fended off the pillow attack that the Thief launched, swatting at her indignantly. Laughing, the Titan continued when they'd declaired a temporary peace. "But here you are, dating that cute little librarian."

Considering the point, Jinx shrugged, going back to braiding Raven's hair where it draped across her crossed legs. "I don't really think about it. I mean, to a degree it seemed weird, but it's more that... well I dated Flash. I've only really indulged in my attractions to boys, but I've always found girls," pausing, Jinx looked back down at the girl laying in her lap and bit her lip, realizing that the topic was dangerous, at best. "I guess I find girls more aesthetic?" Shrugging, she tried to calm her blush, before the Titan could call her on it.

"I think I get you. You're bi."

"Well if you want to simplify it, sure. The thing is, I never really thought to label or define it or whatever. I guess it never came up," Jinx drawled, rolling her eyes. "But seriously, I was kinda blindsided by Yoko. I wasn't expecting... or thinking, about her like that. To be honest, she's like my best friend, and it worries me, where things are going."

Tilting her head, Raven blinked up at her host, "You mean, other than the whole, um. Hive backlash thing? What else worries you?"

"Well, what happens if things go badly? I lose her... and I'm really fond of her company-"

"You just never thought about it like this?" Raven asked, piecing together the puzzle Jinx represented, understanding the reasons behind her odd mood and disturbed demeanor. "Why didn't you... well, say no? Keep things platonic."

Jinx shrugged, and with a small disappointed sound from Raven, sat the Titan back up. "Stay put, be right back." Nodding, the Titan leaned back against the armrest Jinx had vacated and waited, her mind a slow happy muddle from the combination of contact and talk with the quirky Thief. She only remotely found it odd, that her realization from the other day led her to this place.

Like a bolt, there it had hit Raven as she meditated yesterday after leaving. Yesterday when she'd left, and Jinx had wrapped her in a hug, her breath so soft on her ear, she'd realized two things. One, she liked that sensation. Closeness of a more intimate type, the feel of a person under her hands, against her skin. Nothing so visceral as sexual attraction, but the simple, honest contact. Two, she liked that contact, with Jinx. Not one to lie to herself, regardless of the topic, she admitted easily her time with the quirky girl was some of the most defining moments since her break with the Titans. She'd had fun, grown into the easy habit of feeling at ease around the former Thief, and even offered her comfort, something she had never really imagined doing before. Raven understood friendship, had partaken and given it for many years. What Jinx was in her mind floated in a gray space that wasn't within that scope.

She wasn't a fool, though. Yoko held a place with Jinx that she wouldn't tread on, or try to complicate. But that didn't mean she wouldn't work for her own ideals too, and as the afternoon progressed, she had to admit, their closeness was a glowing moon in the nighttime of her mind.

Then Jinx came back in with a pair of small single-serving ice cream tubs, and Raven just smiled. "I take it you like ice cream?"

"I see strawberry. Gimme."

Laughing quietly, Jinx handed the small tub and spoon over, popping the top of her own, pausing when Raven gestured her closer. Scooting nearer the Titan, she was turned and pushed down, blinking up at the smiling hero as she loomed above her. "Your turn."

"Oh. Right," Jinx meeped, deciding her mint chip needed some attention. "You mentioned a bad experience... want to talk about it some? I mean it's cool if no-" she nibbled on a bit of strawberry ice cream that suddenly was occupying her mouth, choosing wisely to hush.

Raven retrieved her spoon before the quirky Thief stole it. "It's fine, you worry too much. Well, there was this story I used to adore..." As Raven's fingers worked out the bands that held Jinx's hair in place, she related the story of Rorek, and her own mistaken romance with Malchior. "In the end, I realized that the story was just a ruse, really. Perhaps it was really true, but in all likelyhood, the only thing I could really trust was that the dragon used the book's story to trap people. Rorek's guise was the lure."

"Wow, that's pretty messed up," Jinx said finally, shaking her head. "I can see why you were hesitant, well other than the other reasons. That's a pretty serious burn." Peering up into the Titan's violet eyes, she looked for traces of that long-past, in Raven's words, sadness, but found only a detached attention to her work. That being apparently, braiding Jinx's hair into a forest of tiny sprouts. "So what happened with the book, and the dragon eventually?"

At this Raven's features took on a slight tinge of annoyance, "I lost track of it years ago. I think the enchantment on the book is such that when the owner no longer could be used to release Malchior, it moves to another. I've tried to track it down, as it's a dangerous book with the dragon's tendency to teach powerful magic as a lure, but can't find it."

Nodding slightly, Jinx had to admit it was a good trap. She would have likely fallen for it herself, "I'm sorry. That's really beyond anything I could compare, I think."

"We're not comparing hurts to win a trophy, silly," Raven replied, laughing silently. "But I have to admit, it really put a damper on my urge to find someone to be in a relationship with." Smiling down at the practically purring Thief in her lap, she began to come to the full realization how much alike they really were, in so many-

"So, did you like... get paper cuts?"

Blinking, Raven's mind stalled and ground to a halt. "Er. What?"

Gesturing lewdly, Jinx made her point and leered up at the incredulous Titan, "You know, from the sharp edges? Serious ow there."

"No. No paper cuts." Eye twitching, the former Titan nearly dumped the cackling Thief into the floor, but decided to turn the tables instead. "So, was Flash the fasted boy on earth... with everything?"

Paling, Jinx cleared her throat and shrugged, looking away. "Well, that is..."

"Ah, so the rumors were true," Raven jibed, happy to make the quirky girl twitch in payback.

Jinx finally rolled her eyes and sighed, "Yeah well, he didn't have stamina issues per se, well not that I'm really a good judge of these things – small pool of experience, but he definitely had could have used a bit more patience."

It was Raven's turn to look away, as the mental images of Kid Flash and Jinx flashed through her mind. "Er. Right."

"Hey, you asked," smirking, Jinx squirmed, settling with her head on Raven's thigh, bringing a blush to the Titan. "You know, you have a comfy lap."

"Th-thank you. I think," Raven stammered, continuing with great concentration to braid Jinx's candyfloss hair. "So, uhm. Are you and Yoko going out again?"

Nodding, Jinx's expression took on a slightly thoughtful cast. "She asked, yeah. I don't know precisely when, but I said yes." Looking up at the Titan, her lips thinned slightly as she contemplated that, and her own feelings toward her best friend. "I guess that wasn't the brightest thing to do, was it?"

Shrugging despite a small stab of envy, or jealousy, Raven wasn't sure which, she stilled her hands on the the other girl's shoulders and held her gaze for a few moments before answering. "I guess it depends on what you want. Do you want to be her best friend, and something else? Just because of who you are, that doesn't mean what you'll have is doomed," she said, the effort took her own eyes locked on the coral-hued ones below her growing with each word. "I can understand your worry. Sometimes I wonder how people manage it. All these complicated, strong emotions ruling them."

"All these?" Jinx asked, here eyes half closing as she lazed there, warm in the Titan's closeness. "I guess it is complicated. But isn't that what makes people so interesting?" Reaching up, she slipped a hand behind the Titan's head and pulled her down, the other girl unprotesting.

She paused, millimeters before their lips met, and Raven could see the edges of Jinx's lips curl slightly, barely forming a grin as her own heartbeat threatened to deafen her. "Complicated," Raven felt more than heard the whisper, against her lips. The warm wash of her breath, so close again blasted what small reservations and hesitations she had to so much dust. Eyes closing, and a held breath shaking loose from her chest, the Titan closed that distance.

Raven was quietly pleased, at the small purr she felt through those lips, the gentle pressure pulling her closer, as a brief touch against her own lips caused her to gasp-

It was at this point, in a swirl of pink and lambent black, that every light in the room was blown, the filaments parting with a series of loud pops. The pair started in the sudden darkness, laughing and pulling themselves up, looking at one another and grinning. Jinx broke the silence, and the distance, reaching over to slip an arm around the Titan's waist. She smiled, to makes sure the Titan didn't mistake what she soon said, "This... us. I don't know Rae. Can you be ok with me not knowing?"

Raven considered this a moment, the myriad meanings behind the quirky girl's words, and nodded, slowly. "I think so. But... I won't be a complication to you and Yoko. I can be ok, with not knowing precisely what..." reaching up she tucked an errant lock of hair back behind Jinx's ear with a grin. "What this is. But I'm also patient."

"So when I know, when I figure out what me and Yoko are," Jinx began, reasoning out the Titan's meaning slowly.

Nodding, Raven favored her with one of her rare smiles, "Then we can figure out what this is."

Smiling in response, Jinx handed the Titan her ice cream, reaching for her own after. "I think I'd like that."

I oOo I

Mornings, as she'd remembered the Tamaranian princess saying, were glorious. Jinx hummed, going through her waking routine with a smile, her talking, as well as the small heart-to-heart, with the Titan having settled quite a few of her anxieties. Singing in the shower, she giggled, planning out her day ahead, looking forward for the first time in quite some while, to everything.

Packing a fast lunch and a little something extra for Yoko, the Thief smiled. "How did I get so lucky?" she pondered, wrapping everything up and organizing her pack. She'd pulled out some books to read during the more droning lectures, opting for her recorder today. She could do some note transcribing before the Titan arived that night for their session. She grinned, debating what they'd learn that night, and if it'd have anything to do with classes. Dismissing her whimsy, Jinx slipped on her shoes and made the small trek to the train station.

She knew whatever she shared with the Titan may be something they both were curious about, but nothing would come of it, yet. Raven respected her feelings for Yoko, even if Jinx was unsure of them, and what direction she wanted them to go, herself. "Lucky," she murmured again, humming to herself and garnering a few glances as she moved her lips in time to a song.

The day progressed as she'd hoped, classes played out and passed in a blur, her recorder picking up at points she was more inclined to either work on some studies of her own, or simply dive into one of the novels she'd picked up, the same ones she'd given to Raven.

Best to be familiar with her own material, after all.

Lunch came soon, and she practiclaly skipped to the lounge, spying Yoko with her back turned to the doors with a grin. Sneaking around the room, she was careful to keep out of sight of the girl, intent on her goal. Lowering her bag carefully, the Thief prepared herself by crouching by the table, a mischevous grin on her face as she watched the librarian look over a book she was supposed to be sorting, seemingly more intent on reading it.

Just as she was turning to place the item on the proper rack, a pink blur swooped up and tackled her, the pair falling behind the desk with a muffled thump. "Ouf, my god Jinx, what are yo- Noo! Not the ear again, Aiiiiee!" A single brown loafer flew over the desk, landing beside Jinx's pack.

Raven grinned, raising the book she was reading on the other side of the library back up to hide her face. She may have feelings for the quirky witch, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy watching her have fun at someone else's expense. After all, what good are friends, if you can't scheme with them?

* * *

A/N: This is a rewrite of my original Ch.6, minus some angst, and with a bit more... happy. Understand: This had nothing to do with the somewhat negative feedback I've gotten regarding the progress with Yoko. Two things, real fast. The character pairing this is listed under was purposeful. I'm exploring an idea, where my intended romance plot is apparent, not immediate, but natural. Not every friendship stays that way, not every romance is definite, immediate and stable. This is me spearheading an idea I don't see often, in which the first romance you see in the story, isn't the one under which it's listed. That doesn't mean it's not planned.

Enough spoilers. I almost feel obligated to put that there, with the number of PM's I've gotten calling me out on "Why is it", "Well, way to lie about" and the like. I will be pleased one day to find a reader with the patience to enjoy a plot, because it is the road, not the destination.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Characters here are property of their owners, none of which happen to be me. Correction – Yoko's mine.

**NOTE: REWRITTEN AS OF 10-5-08. Yarr.**

* * *

Initial Notes: Hit the books.

* * *

_**A Cup of Sugar, pt.7 Take two.  
**_

"Hmm."

Raven's ear perked, and she glanced up from the workbook she was currently engrossed in, an eyebrow raised as Jinx regarded her, tapping her lip with a pen. "Yes...?"

The former Thief was looking through Raven, apparently consumed in thought. "How much have you read of the second book?"

Reaching down into her pack, the young Titan pulled out the small, aged paperback and thumbed to where her bookmark had rested. There, around two-thirds through the book, the small slip of pewter rested. "I think they've just met the Longs, and are... sorting things out."

Jinx snickered and nodded slowly, her grin deepening, "Ah, well then I think it's time we took a break from your hard studies, and worked on the second angle, the one I mentioned the other day."

"I've been curious about that, actually," Raven replied, setting aside her notebook and stretching her back, unfolding from her position on the couch. The studying sessions had continued since their heart-to-heart the other day, and Raven had made good progress in getting her base of knowledge built up to the place needed for her current college endeavors. Already, her confidence and application skills were improved, and she felt like the material that her current and tutored studies meshed with a nice synergy. Her curiosity on what Jinx had planned to add to her tutoring had piqued Raven's curiosity, and after a few days of waiting, she was eager to learn what this next segment would add.

"Did you gather anything... unique from that part of the book I asked you to focus on?" The Thief's coral eyes glinted over the edge of her mug, the tea steaming lightly in afternoon's gentle light. Her student pondered the question. "Considering the material, I would think this one would be easy."

The Titan rolled her eyes, and sighed as she settled back in the chair, reaching up to tuck an errant lock of hair behind her ear. "I know what you're talking about. Zebidiah talked about studying his professors. Is that what you meant?"

"Precisely," the candyfloss haired girl purred, sipping her tea. "Like I said, there's no way with the time remaining, for you to learn everything you need. It'd be too hard to reassert all the background you'd need to be up to speed completely before exams," reaching out and snatching a candy from the dish on her living room table, the young woman peeled it slowly while pulling a satchel up from the floor beside her.

To her credit, Raven was intrigued by the idea, if unsure how it would play out. "The thing that confuses me though, is how this is supposed to work. There wasn't a lot of information in the novel, on this."

Nodding, Jinx popped the candy in her mouth and grinned. "he doesn't go into detail, which is why I did. That's why I didn't just leave it at the novel," pulling out a small wire-bound notebook, she opened it to the first page and dropped it down in front of Raven. "This is an outline of what I have in mind. It covers all the professors that could be datamined," running a finger along the numbers, Raven noticed that all but one of her classes was covered. "I didn't cover Lerhner, as I don't think it would help. Math teachers... well. I don't think it'd matter. I'm tutoring you in precalc, that's the best I can do for him.

"The bottom line on this is pretty simple. You learn, what it was they learned. Not the material, but how it was laid out. Next is the key, and that's the material they used in their education." Reaching back into the satchel, she retrieved a small stack of folders, all labeled. "These are the thesis, dissertation and graduate works of your professors."

Eyebrows rising, the Titan looked over the material slowly, then glanced back up at Jinx, "This is a lot to learn. Am I supposed to memorize all this?"

"Not at all. What you will be focusing on, isn't learning what they wrote or worked on, so much as how they learned it.

"Patterns, Raven," pulling up the outline, a book and a picking out one of the folders, she placed them all before the Titan and smiled. "What people learn, leaves an imprint on how they think, how they work. Teachers, especially. Since they are in the business of learning, how they did so becomes a critical factor in their method."

Nodding slowly, the Titan admitted that the idea had merit. She started looking over the folder and data that Jinx had pointed out, while the former Thief organized and looked over the other material, making small stacks on the table. Leafing through the thin folder, Raven had to admit, some of the structure of the thesis seemed familiar. Like her professor's method, the writeup had a certain focus and direction. As she kept reading, the pattern as Jinx had called it started to appear, and the depth of the plan Jinx had set up seemed to open up. "I think I see what you mean," the Titan observed, brow furrowing as her eyes roved over hastily turned sheets.

"With a solid understanding of those things, a syllabus and your texts, you can predict and plan on what the professors will assign, test and expect. It'll be less learning your lessons," pausing, the Thief sipped at her tea briefly, grinning up as Raven as the young woman seemed to warm to the task. "Less learning your lessons, as learning the teachers."

"It feels like cheating."

"It is." Grinning her cheshire smile, the pink-haired former Thief shrugged slightly as her pupil looked up at the blunt affirmation. "Like I said, there's no way I can fully get you up to speed with your classes, and in the niche to be fully independent. Your fault, currently, isn't in studying, or retention so much as groundwork.

"You lack the basic, fundamental things colleges expect you to know. Proper essay form, the normal curriculum. It's difficult for you to relate to some topics, due to not having worked with their predecessors."

"It... has been difficult. At times it's terribly difficult to relate to the material," Raven conceded, laying the papers down. "I feel so behind, like I'm missing pieces of a puzzle, but can see the idea of what it would look like, complete. But do I have to take this route, this method?"

Sighing slightly, the woman across the table nodded slowly, biting at her lip. "I can't think of another way, really. I'm slowly filling in the holes, from what you missed in these sessions between current topics. You've got too much to cover, and though I can hit the hard parts of what you'll be studying, there's no way to cover all this ground in time."

Raven sat, blinking slowly as she pondered. After a moment, she started shuffling among the papers and thin folders, her eyes searching out small details. After a few minutes of this, and a handful of curious glances from Jinx, the Titan settled back on the couch and leveled an intense look at the former Thief. "There's material here from all over the US. I've counted three colleges, and at least two out of state libraries, as well as library tags from all over... how hard was this to do?"

Blushing slightly, the former Thief busied herself with ordering the papers again by professor. "I said I'd help. I wouldn't be able to deal with my conscience if I didn't do all I could," satisfied finally with the ordering of the materials, she looked back up at Raven and saw violet eyes steadily peering back. "I offered to help. This was the best I could think of."

"I appreciate it. And... I'll do my best too. I don't want to fail at this." Her voice going soft, the violet-haired girl started shuffling her books and the new study items back into her pack. "I really want to make the most of this chance..." looking down, she paused. "And I can't think of going back to the Tower, a failure."

Crossing to where the violet-haired woman sat, Jinx wrapped an arm around her shoulder and laughed slowly. "Only you could consider yourself such a thing, after all you've done. You won't fail; I promise. We'll send you back there with a degree and then some."

Blushing furiously, Raven couldn't help but smile back at her tutor, spirit lifted. "Thank you."

"Forget about it. Now," rising she pulled the former Titan up after her, they walked to the door quietly. Hesitating a moment, Jinx grinned, subdued, "Meet me in the library tomorrow after sessions, we'll do some studying there."

"Yoko won't mind?"

Stalling slightly, Jinx's eyes clouded and Raven slammed her own mental probing back behind her awareness hastily. Curiosity and proximity made it difficult, but she respected her host's privacy, with some effort. She owed her that much. "It'll be alright," the coral-haired girl assured, and Raven let it go.

Nodding once, Raven stepped into the afternoon gloom and waved, setting a brisk pace to her own home. "See you tomorrow, then," she bade as the young woman left.

Leaning against the door as she let it close from her weight, Jinx breathed a sigh and tried to clear her mind. A noise from before her caused her lip to quirk, as she mumbled darkly to her new guest, eyes shrouded by her hair, "I was wondering when you were going to show up again."

_OoO_

Raven's first night of study, not assigned by Jinx but that didn't deter the Titan's curiosity, went quickly, and interestingly. She decided to focus on her Art History professor being the subject that likely would have the most robust data and material from her tutor.

What she saw, affirmed Jinx's theory. Alex Middlefield was a very regimented, intelligent man, and he obviously, shown by his comments and reviews on those published works, got along well with his professors. This was another point on Jinx's 'syllabus'. How well her professors meshed with their own. Her supposition was that if a person dislikes a teacher, they would often try to find other ways to learn, find their own paths. This would become apparent as a disparity in the data provided, and supplied between their instructor and the assignments. Raven learned to identify those patterns quickly, and her ability to predict the outcomes and essay material and grades was rapidly developing.

After one night, her mind so sharpened from years of pattern-recognition with magic and detective work, had found a sort of cypher in the correlation between her professor's grades, work, their teachers in turn, and the material she was now receiving.

That Jinx had come up with this system, on the fly for her, and wasn't even using it stunned the Titan, as she sat with a cup of tea halfway to her lips. "She's brilliant," the young woman observed, shaking her head slowly. She'd already developed a grudging respect for the young woman, after simply observing her grades and performance at the college, and that had only grown since learning she was also the criminal from her past.

Such things barely factored into her thinking now, usually having as much weight as an observation on a person's clothing being a certain color of blue, or the temperature outside. The young woman had firmly established herself as someone to be respected and also just good company.

A yawn stole from her, and the young Titan chuckled, realizing she was cutting it very close to not getting enough sleep to be functional, the next day. Long habits took over, and she simply phased through her clothes en route to her bed, crawling under the covers and settling barely a moment after. A flick of her will and the lights went dim, and she curled up contently, hope a warm core inside her.

I think this will work, she thought to herself, smiling there as her hair splayed about her pillow, unbound.

_OoO_

Hope was the only thing that kept her going the next week.

Since that night before, there had been little sign or shape of Jinx, and any inquiries she'd made at the girl's home had gone unanswered. Once, she was chased off the property as the local land-broker had come by, and told her that she was trespassing on private property.

Something about that smelled, and Raven was having some difficulty rectifying all the information in her head. She'd gone so far as to seek out Yoko, who had been in the library each day, as if standing vigil for her girlfriend.

"No word?" the Titan ventured, as she stepped up to the shelving desk. She knew the answer already, with how haunted and off Yoko had still been that day. Since Jinx's disappearance, the small girl's complexion had sallowed, and she seemed to withdraw into a shell, being less and less outgoing.

Shaking her head ever so slightly, the young woman sighed and placed the books she was holding back on the table. "Nothing. I'm worried, Rachel."

Settling on the side of the table, Raven bit at her lip and nodded. So far, thanks to Jinx, her grades had steadily improved, from near-failing to steadily passing. They weren't great grades, but time would let that even out. Averages still counted her failures, after all. Despite it, and her growing confidence, she missed those tutoring sessions, and the bolstering to her knowledge that the former Thief always managed to pull off, regardless of how lost Raven was in a subject.

In truth, she simply missed Jinx. "I think I'll start making some more direct inquires," she assured Yoko, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder. A small nod was her only reply, and Raven reclaimed her bag and set out for the bus station.

There were still two periods of class left, but she had something to do. If she didn't know, find out for sure, then what was the point of her friendship with the young woman?  
An hour later, and she stood outside Jinx's house again, seeing for the second time that land broker shuffling about outside, this time speaking with a police officer. Raven decided it was high time that she find out what was going on, and phased herself into a shadow, using an SUV as cover along the street.

Her awareness surfaced in the darkness below the car parked a few yards away from the pair, and she eavesdropped with a grim focus.

"... there wasn't anything wrong with the purchase. I don't know who told you that, but it's unfounded. And those kinds of inquires are not, I repeat not, 911 material, Miss. You need to route that to the clerk of court, and they can instruct you from there."

"Sorry, I was just scared that my inspections would be met with violence," the woman placated, her tone oily. Raven felt herself shiver at the woman's obvious lie. "Regardless, there will be a bank forfeit of the home in a month, and I'd appreciate it if you could ensure there was no... trespassing on the property. Would you be able to help in that, Sir?"

The officer seemed nonplussed by her wheedling tone, and was already walking to his car. "You know the office supply store, a few blocks away?"

"Well, yes," the woman began, and as she took a breath to continue her greasy ramble, the officer cut her off.

"They sell warning signs. I suggest you take a business order on some. Good day."

Her face losing all it's false pleasantness, the woman stuck her nose up and turned sharply, heading back to the home as if it were a refuge. "Pompous ass." Settling by her own vehicle, the one Raven was currently waiting beneath with barely contained annoyance, the woman opened a door and Raven prepared to shift away, but when the door didn't close and the woman started talking, supposedly to a phone, the Titan remained.

"You lying little prick, I just made a fool of myself in front of a police officer on your claim!" Stilling, Raven's eyes narrowed as she listened to the woman's conversation, wanting nothing more than to rise up from the floorboards of the vehicle and throttle her. "No, nothing! Were you lying about the forfeit as well? I can ensure that the deed information passes to my office on it's release, but unless there's a bank buyout available, you're wasting my time!"

Silence reigned for a few moments, and the woman's words, when next she spoke, were quiet and held significantly less force. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry. I know, and yes. I'll keep that well in mind... I'll make a note and have my secretary watch for the release, yes. Daily? At about... six you say? Yes I saw her once, and did as you asked. No, not since."

She's talking about me, Raven foundered for a moment in realization. Whoever's on the other side of this phone, just asked about her! Feeling her anger rising again, she silently recanted her mantra, and focused on more important things. _Jinx_. She reached out, delicately with her mind and feel through the woman's memories, noticing a drop in her verbosity as she spoke to the man on the phone.

Raven could tell that now, with access to her memories. It did her little good though, as modified as the voice was. A filter was obviously being used. Sadly the woman had no knowledge at all of the previous occupant, beyond a name and the obvious address. That and the fact that her client had offered her a 50 percent cut of the value of the home, if she could acquire and sell it with minimal fuss.

Releasing her hold on the woman's mind, she took the next step in her investigation, and rose up, wary and quiet into the home's dining room.

A cup of tea, and the work that they had been looking over still littered the table.

Her anxiety rising, Raven reached out and felt for Jinx's mind, but didn't touch anything. She walked the house then, and after pausing in each room, extending her mind and still receiving nothing but faint echoes, she sighed and sat in the middle Jinx's living room floor. It wasn't unusual, she remembered, familiar with the young woman's mind. She kept so much tied up and centered in her psyche that it was no wonder there was little mental effluvia in her home. Raven had seen the well-worn exercise equipment, and had been impressed that Jinx had kept up such things, even outside the Hive.

She grumbled to herself about a lack of clues, and in a fit of pique, slammed her hand into the carpet. Blinking, she looked at the ball of her fist, as it came back with dried mud, curiously.

Jinx never wore shoes into her home.

Scrambling to her feet, Raven called on her heritage briefly, and the two other eyes that blinked suddenly above her others scanned the room. She altered the vision, focusing on differences, and she could see the footprints clearly, even among the lighter ones of simple passing that she and Jinx had made days before.

They, oddly, simply appeared in the middle of the room and moved about, as the person had. There was no use of door, or window, from their origin. More curious, there were footprints that seemed vastly out of scale in a place, like the print had been smudged or forced.

It made no sense.

And there, caught between the fibers of the carpet, she spied a single, green hair.

A low growl settling in her throat, Raven folded in on herself and set her mind to Titan Tower.

_OoO_

Jinx awoke the day after her brief... chat... with Beast Boy – Changeling as he insisted now, in a room that she did not recognize. There was a large plate of food, cold and stale, by the bed she lay on, and a single window high up that let in light.

She had no idea how, with the layout of the room, she'd been brought here. Or for that matter, how food had been left. It was obvious however, she was here against her will. Jinx was still trying, unsuccessfully, to puzzle out Beast Boy's mind in this. Where _was_ she?

"Hello?" Her call made her head ache, and she regretted it immediately. A foul taste in the back of her mouth made her wince, and the former Hive operative recognized a sleeping agent that wasn't too hard to acquire, and it's aftereffects in her blurred vision and sluggish body. She knew, when she had the energy, that she'd be incredulous about this. Common kidnapping tactics use on her of all people. The irony of it all was stunning.

Rolling over on her side carefully as to avoid further aggravating her dislocated shoulder, she gingerly felt at her back and came back with her hand slightly damp. Falling back on the cot, she cast back in her memory for what had happened, what brought her here.

_Beast Boy stood, staring at her shoes by all accounts. The fact he'd come into her home uninvited, and without her noticing wasn't lost on Jinx though. "So, I take it this isn't a social call."_

_"I told you to stay away from her," the young man replied, his voice quiet, toneless. Her thief's instincts told her to run, but she knew Beast Boy, despite his outburst the other night, and this, there wasn't a fight that she'd failed to best him in, one on one. _

_Shrugging, she walked back to her living room, keeping an eye on the changer as he tracked her. She also kept a number of yards between them. "She asked me. If you have such a problem with this, why not talk to Raven?"_

_When he laughed, she stopped taking him lightly. Jinx had heard laughter like that before, and it never boded well. Something was very wrong with the young man, and it never did well to let your guard down around people in that mindset. She had stopped and turned to keep her full attention on him, when he literally pounced._

_His limbs seemed liquid, as in retrospect her mind tried to decipher his motions. He'd shifted his legs, something like a kangaroo maybe, and as he hit her, his upper body like a gorilla. "It won't work like that, Jinx." She'd bowed and recoiled from the hit, and was thankfully going to have some distance between them to move but a suckered tentacle drew her back far too fast. _

_A massive fist slammed into her kidney and she cried out._

_"I told you to stay away..." Hauling her onto a shoulder, the changeling rifled in a pocket. Jinx's hazed mind registered the sting of a needle and she groaned inwardly. "She needs to come back. She belongs with us." She'd tried to argue, really. Tried to form some words at all, but the cotton in her mouth and in her head just kept the words from forming. And then it snuck over her eyes and she knew no more._

The blow she'd taken obviously had broken the skin, as well as a rib. More inspections occurred and the tally rose, causing her anxiety to grow. If she were not able to get proper food and medicine soon...

Shaking those ideas off, she managed to sit up with some difficulty. Honestly, she'd been treated to worse in the past, and come out of it fine. This was just more intense she imagined, after such a long time from the Hive and her work there as an operative. She did her best to set the broken bone in her chest, eyes watering terribly and a cry ripped from between her clenched teeth. The ankle would heal on it's own, nothing broken there. Her shoulder... sighing, she gripped her hand between her feet, growling as the heavy sprain in her ankle complained, then wrenched.

She woke up a few minutes later, after blacking out from the pain.

Jinx lay there, sobbing silently as her body quieted in it's screaming. She knew it was better to handle these things sooner. She couldn't fight with her shoulder fouled, or unaware that her knee or ankle were weak. The bitterness of actually loosing to Beast Boy welled up in her again and she spat, disgusted with herself.

It was then that her stomach finally decided to have it's turn in things. Stomach growling, she looked to the plate that was left here for her. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed it was all vegetarian fare. "Fucking hippy asshole," she muttered, but scooped up the dish regardless. Cold vegetarian food, she discovered, tasted a lot like cardboard and sawdust.

She awoke, again groggy and out of sorts, in a new room, with a new plate. Groaning, she felt the breaks and bruises had gotten somewhat worse, as she'd been moved roughly, and cursed Beast Boy again, with new fervor. She had been moved, no doubt slung over Beast Boy's back as he capered about as a gorilla, she assumed. Compounding her reawakened injuries with a dire thirst, and Jinx started feeling an edge of panic creep up her thoughts.

If this kept up, one day she'd not awaken. Was that his plan? Kill her by attrition in these places? All because Raven wanted a _tutor_?

He must be insane, she concluded, trying to rub the clouding from her vision with a hand. "I can't go like this..."

Despite her resolve, she was still too weak to do anything but sit up, and eat the obviously drugged food. If she didn't eat, likely she'd be subdued some other way, most likely violent, which could cause her more harm, and besides, if she had any chance to survive this, she needed to eat. Food wasn't an option, in these damned rooms.

Jinx's third 'morning' found her in much the same way as the last, though her injuries hadn't been too unsettled in her transporting, thankfully. Still though, her thirst was dire and the meager cup of water she'd been given did little more than awaken it's fury. A chamber pot rested in the room as it had in the others, and Jinx grudgingly used it, before settling back down to her meager cot.

How she wished for her bed. Tears welled up, and she snarled, banishing them. "I won't be weak, not for him," she railed silently, and stared out the small window, refusing to let her memory do more than idle slightly on things that could help her.

Nothing came to mind, though. These places were bare but for her cot, the pot in the corner, and the small ration left to her, likely after she was moved each day. Or days. She had no way of knowing how long she was out each time, with no way to measure the passing hours.

She felt a momentary spike of anxiety, for her studies and almost laughed at the absurdity of that intruding on her present dilemma.

Sighing, realizing there was nothing in her current state she could accomplish, with the lack of tools and her own reserve of energy, she picked up the food and ate grudgingly. If she could only manage a hex to break down a wall... but then, who was to say it'd not topple the house down on her?

She'd go that route, when things were more dire. If she could. Darkness crept up on her, and she managed to set the plate down before toppling into it.

The fourth, _her_ fourth, morning arrived, but this time she wasn't somewhere else. Looking about her with foggy vision, she easily recognized the room she'd been in, when the drugged sleep had overcome her. The mostly finished plate of vile food was still there as well, with a few small additions. She shuddered at the dead cockroaches and flies littering it, and started shivering herself. "Oh, god..."

It didn't occur to her how little she'd minded that drugged sleep, but now with what could be a full day of this place arrayed before her, she eyed the plate with a slight longing. Her thoughts turned dark, and as the light outside faded, she did as well, sleeping fitfully with her arms wrapped around herself, the chill air seeping into her bones.

Jinx didn't wake on what she would assume to be her fifth morning, in one of those rooms. Instead she found herself in a hospital room, hooked up to an IV and with a few light braces and casts around her ribs, shoulder, hip and ankle. "Wha," she managed to croak before her throat failed, and her eyes watered savagely from the lack of use. Her croaking had awoken someone, though, and they padded over quietly, as she looked on through blurry eyes and a veil of anxiety.

"Jennifer?" Raven leaned down, smoothing her hair back as Yoko crept up behind the Titan, peering over her shoulder. "You are awake, hold on. I'll get a nurse." When the Titan moved to leave, Jinx's hand shot out, making her wince with the sudden motion but she caught hold of Raven's jacket regardless.

"Stay," she managed, and looked between Yoko and the young woman pleadingly. Working some moisture into her mouth with a bit of effort, she finally released the Titan's sleeve and managed a hoarse, "What happened?"

Sighing heavily, Raven turned to Yoko who gave her a slight nod and went to fetch the nurse before Jinx could stop her. "It's OK. She'll be right back. Besides... this is troublesome. I couldn't tell her some things because I don't know what I can..." pausing she shrugged a bit. "I think you get it." At Jinx's small nod, the Titan pulled up a chair noisily and sat down.

"It all started about a week after we met about the new study plan..."

_OoO_

Raven had wasted little time after finding her evidence, to locate and speak with Garfield.

Despite literally moving at the speed of thought, she felt impatient. This wasn't something she could wait on.

Arriving for the first time in a few months at Titan Tower was an odd feeling for her, to be sure, complicated further by the things fueling this impromptu visit. "Am I breaking in," she pondered silently, as she glided around the main room slowly. "Is this what Jinx felt like, coming here that time?"

Shaking off her odd reverie, the former Titan looked about herself. The room she was in had changed little, but small things were obvious. New names were on mugs in the kitchen, new smells in the room she was in. A few personal affects were strewn about and she spared a small glance to each. The place wasn't deserted though, her presence hadn't been noticed.

She needed to remind Cyborg to fix those alarms.

"Robin." Her voice wasn't loud, wasn't cast in a tone to startle, but the Boy Wonder practically leapt to his feet, spinning in place. He blinked a few times, before seeming to allow himself to admit it was really her.

Leaning forward, peering up into her jacket's hood, he let a small smile reach his lips. "Raven, it is you." Gesturing to the couch he made as if to sit back down, but when the young woman didn't move, he paused. "You can sit, this is still home you know."

There were a lot of things going on in her head, at that moment. She tried to wade through them but there wasn't much she could put a name to, not without time. "I can't. I have to speak with Garfield."

Long used to her, her silences and her quiet words, the strangled and clipped way in which the woman spoke set him on edge immediately. Looking about him, the young man turned up the television, previously nearly mute and stood, crossing to her. "Raven, what's going on?" He stood a few feet away, wary, as he knew her outbursts were dangerous, and he felt the odd tension in the air around her the usually signaled one.

"I... where is Gar?" She didn't trust herself to say any more.

Hesitating a moment, Robin just shook his head and sat down. "I'll call him, but tell me what this is about first. What did he do?"

Swallowing her heart, as it kept jumping up and blocking her throat, Raven just shook her head hard, before slumping into the chair beside her once-leader. "I think something happened to Jinx."

"Jinx. Jinx?" Looking around, as if there were queue cards he'd missed, Robin turned and rose a quizzical brow at the young woman, her face a study in conflict that sat beside him. "Start from the beginning, Rae. I don't have the slightest idea what's up, here."

So she told him. Some details were left out (she believed) but the rush of telling had left her brittle and unbalanced. It had taken only five minutes, as she really had no patience for this but to just go and snatch up Gar like he had Jinx... she'd not stoop to his level. The retelling only managed to reopen her recent mental wounds, her anxiety on edge when the door in the back of the room opened, admitting the remaining team.

She was on him before Robin could blink. "Where is she?"

Titans West had lost little of their edge, in the time that Raven had been away, and she wasn't surprised when she was pried from the changeling. He sputtered and grumbled but only stood, glaring at her with hurt in his eyes. "Nice to see you too, Raven."

* * *

A/N: Yep, rewritten. I do that a lot with this story... anyway. Date on this is ... 10-5-08.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Characters here are property of their owners, none of which happen to be me. Correction – Yoko's mine.

**NOTE! CH.7 REWRITTEN! Backtrack if you read it before 10-5-08, or this will confuse the hell out of you. It will have a note like this (The site is being slow)  
**

* * *

Initial Notes: Lets try this again...

* * *

_**A Cup of Sugar, pt.8**_

"I wish I could say the same," Raven spat back, her arms held to her sides by Wondergirl's lasso, as Robin tried to establish order in the suddenly upset room. She watched as Garfield mocked a look of hurt, and realized that the lines on his face, and his posture had deepened in the months she'd been away.

Shaking his head, the changeling put some distance between himself and the still sputtering half-demon only a yard away. "So what brings you by? It's been a while since you've visited. Get tired of that boring college, yet?"

The mechanical way in which he said those words caught in everyone's mind, as Raven seemed to go livid, Cyborg having to hold the rope around her with some strength to keep her from just running headlong at the green-skinned young man. Robin's face was grim as the young man, Garfield, crossed the room and spun a chair to sit. "I wish I had some idea what you meant by 'she', Raven, but I don't."

"Don't lie to me!" Raven screeched, head bowed as she shook it slowly. "You should know you can't. Just... don't."

"I'm not the one lying here!" The others reeled back, at the force in the slight man's words and voice. It was obvious something was wrong, as he panted and looked about with wide eyes where he sat, the rest of his body rigid, as if the only player in this act that knew it's lines. "What have you been doing? Playing at being normal – look at yourself!"

Stunned slightly at his words, Raven peered at her hands and saw them rimmed with ebon. "That doesn't matter, I-"

"You're one of us. Not them," nearly spitting the last word, Garfield rose, stalking about the room slowly, his hands shaking as he did so. "Didn't you see? You weren't meant to be there! Your grades, the way people looked at you. Didn't you get it?

"You belong here. With us." Taking a deep breath, he turned and his face was set in a gentle smile, all the tension from a moment ago gone, the deep lines as he screamed and ranted quite smooth now. "Here with us, home. You're a Titan, Rae."

"My name is Raven," she spat the word at him, as Cyborg looked back and forth between the two and Robin, shrugging. He didn't know if he should keep holding the young woman, or try and sort out Garfield. Robin was little help, as he stood, brows furrowed and looking like he'd just bitten down on a lime. "Tell. Me. Where. Jinx. Is."

The facade that Beast Boy had painted on his features broke and he snarled, "She doesn't matter! I matter, here!" Pounding his chest the young man swung his arm about and pointed, in a wide arc at the other Titans. "They matter! What are you playing at? Being normal, trying to make some kind of fake life out there? It's like some kind of bad front for a sting, Raven. It's not a game! You can't do it."

"_You_ can't, Garfield. _You_ couldn't, but this isn't a game to me, and it's not a lie," slowly, Raven straitened back up from her straining, as the ropes around her went slack, Cyborg letting them free. Cassie recalled the length of enchanted rope and caught it, keeping the corner of her eye on Beast Boy, wary. "What have you done?"

Reaching up and swiping a damp palm through his hair, the changeling laughed quietly, the breaths shaking him badly. "I did what I needed to. I put the villain away, and rescued you."

"You're... you're ill." Swallowing, Raven's breath went shallow, as she picked at his surface memories carefully. They resembled nothing less than a shattered mirror. She raised her hands and took a hesitant step toward the now-shaking young man. "Just.. relax, Gar. Lets talk a minute."

"You're still lying," he mumbled, head bowed. "You still don't want to talk _to_ me. You never did, did you? You just wanted your books. Your scrolls, and your damn black hole of a room. Your peace and quiet.

"Well, that's fine. It was always OK, because you were here, with us," his eyes glowered, glittering from below his bangs as they draped over his face, and Raven unconsciously took a step back, at the fury smoldering in them. "But now, she's gotten to you. Got inside your head, with her magic and her stupid plans and her..." his voice trailed off as he shook his head slowly, hands to his side and clenched, nails biting into his palms deeply. Raven noticed a darker stain on his fingers, as blood flowed there. She looked about a moment, gauging if the Titans were seeing what she was, seeing the need to just contain him before Garfield could hurt himself more, and realized her mistake, even as her peripheral was filled with green. "I won't let you go again!"

They hurtled through a window in a tangle of limbs, the impact so sudden she was stunned. Partially because she just never expected him to do something so... mad, and partly from the blow to her head as it broke the huge pane of glass.

It wasn't enough to keep her stunned long, and she halted her fall easily, but with some hesitation also took hold of the wailing Beast Boy, as he flailed, alternately sobbing and snarling at her. She held him fast in his human form and in a claw of black will, stretching out from her billowing jacket as she floated above the rocky crag of the Bay. Her mind locked him into this shape, and he could sense it, knew it was her as she'd done so, in the past.

The bitter tang of betrayal that washed over her mind nearly made her vomit, as she picked through his memories, for some sign of Jinx.

_OoO_

The newly 'reunited' Titans had spared little time in retrieving them, and with relief she saw them binding Garfield, and not her this time. She was about to dismiss herself and go scan the houses, addresses torn from Beast Boy's mind, when a hand gingerly took her shoulder.

Raven turned to see the others, faces a range from grim to blank, in some cases, but all there, supporting her. "Let us help," Robin has said quietly, and the half-demon nodded her thanks, sweeping out a great shadow to send them to the first property, Beast Boy held to the side in case in a small ebony bubble, sleeping in a fetal position fitfully. Darkened rural streets greeted the odd group, as they spread out and approached a dark home, wary and on guard. This pattern repeated, for three other homes, Raven becoming anxious as their searches were fruitless.

Robin had his notebook out, and scanned each place as they checked, taking small lines of data down. Raven noted a few things herself, and the one that seemed to stick in her mind most were the signs outside each home.

All for sale. All brokered by the same woman, that she'd initially seen outside Jinx's home. A Spike of rage sneaked up on her, and in the gloom of a darkened room, she could hear Robin suck in a gasp of breath, the tenuous link between them hammering at his mind in such close proximity. "Sorry," the young woman muttered, but he just shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"S'ok, this would be taxing for anyone," and she had to agree with those words. "Is this it?"

"No, she's not here. I can't feel her." Raven purposefully left out of her observation, what the latter could mean. She scoured her memories, those taken from Garfield's mind and saw an error in her thinking, nearly groaning at the realization. Too hasty, she'd sped off to each place he'd filed in memory, but that meant little as those were catalog pictures, from the brokerage book. Kicking herself, she searched again, and came up with only seven houses, that had more than just an address and a picture, to work off of.

Two they'd already visited.

Third time was the charm, as when they appeared outside the dilapidated home, Raven could practically taste the line of Jinx's sleeping thoughts, burrowed below the ground level of the place. Sleeping, her mind was idle but there was a waver, a broken thread to the sound of it. She was injured, that much was obvious, but also something... clouded, her.

The impulse to rip the structure loose and crush it into a ball of so much pointless debris and...

Robin's hand on her shoulder stilled her, and she smiled her thanks. "Lets her her out of there," was her only reply, to the searching looks the others had given her on arrival.

It was answer enough.

_OoO_

That brought them to the present, minus the fate of the green-skinned man. "Gar?" Jinx managed to ask, her voice still lacking, despite the few cups of water Raven had helped her with, during the retelling.

Noise in the hallway alerted the Titan to the nurse returning, and she made a sign for Jinx to wait a few more minutes. In truth, there were still parts of the story she wasn't ready to tell, quite yet.

The few moments she'd asked for became an hour or more, as the nurse ran an extensive battery on the young woman, that had the caretaker shooing the two other students from the room. Sitting in the hallway, Yoko finally sighed and looked over to Raven, who winced and met her gaze. Raven finally just sighed and spoke first, "Ask, you have the right."

"Why did he do it?" The smaller girl, still in a state of disbelief asked. She'd been, as everyone had, locked into a state of thinking of the heroes of Titan Tower as inviolate paragons. That one of them would have a vendetta on an ex-villain made sense, but this... this passed beyond her ability to grasp.

Raven sighed and leaned back against the wall, weary. "Garfield has never been very stable. Yet he's always wanted stability.

"His past was riddled with sudden changes and uprootings. Never able to go to school, unable to keep a steady home... even after his acceptance into Doom Patrol he was shuffled about like a child from a broken marriage," she explained, eyes locked on the cuffs of her jacket, as her hands played with them. "Change makes him very unsettled. When I went to college, I broke with the team, and... well there is one other problem."

Yoko, listening with little sympathy for the young man, tilted her head in query. "What problem?"  
Looking away nervously, the other Titan seemed to draw in on herself. "Gar has had a crush on me since... well. Since I've paid attention to it. It's been a long time," her voice had dropped, and now she looked, unblinkingly at her hands. "He's very jealous. Very unstable, sometimes. But this was so... out of the blue! But at the same time... I should have known!" Tears had started to leak from the corners of Raven's eyes, and Yoko did the only thing she could think of, then to help.

She stood, and pulled Raven into a hug. The young woman sobbed quietly, and Yoko could practically feel the guilt rolling off the girl, as she tried to comfort her. Making soft soothing sounds, she stilled the Titan's heaving breaths and finally got her to look up again. "You OK there?"

"Yeah... yeah," shaking off the last of her outburst, Raven grinned in thanks at the other girl and settled back in her chair. "Jinx – Jennifer had warned me. Told me about Garfield but I wrote it off as a jealous fit. I had no idea he'd go this far..." sighing, she rubbed at her eyes and sniffled. "I feel responsible."

"Don't," Yoko said, possibly a bit too forcefully, as people down the hall looked their way curiously. "Don't, he did this on his own. And... by the sound of things you didn't have reason to think he'd do something like this."

Shaking her head slowly, Raven sighed and rubbed at her temples. She should have picked up on something from him during their last meeting, where he'd ridden in her coat on the way to see Jinx. She could feel his mind, more chaotic than usual but wrote it off as something else. All the queues were there though. If she knew where to look. Had been looking...

"You can see her now," the nurses words jolted both of them upright, as they'd fallen into their thoughts deep enough to loose track of their surroundings. Walking back in, they saw that Jinx's bed had been elevated, and she was happily surfing through channels on the television there, a small smile on her lips.

"Hey, you missed a very thorough poking and prodding session. I think I'm now into medical bondage, in fact," she quipped, voice still rough but stronger. Raven stifled a giggle while Yoko just sighed and shook her head. "What?"

"We're just glad your back to yourself, Jen," the smaller Asian girl replied, as Raven nodded. "How long did she say you were going to be stuck here?"

Wincing, Jinx shrugged a bit, her expression falling, "Maybe another week, with my metabolism. They're saying three... but it won't matter. I've missed way too much work in class, and I don't think this is going to help at all." Raven blinked then smiled a bit, and pulled Yoko over to a corner, whispering to her quietly. "Hey no fair!" Jinx complained, as they giggled behind their hands.

"I think we can help you a bit, as far as that goes," Raven replied after a small pause, her grin looking familiar to Jinx, which made her more than a little nervous. It reminded her of her own.

"Er?"

"Irony, it's a wonderful thing."

_OoO_

Yoko and Raven walked up to the steps, book bags in place and a second messenger bag with some more in tow. The hospital staff waved them on without a second glance, used to such things at this point. The charge nurse on Jinx's hallway waved as they passed, smiling at the two students. They rounded the corner, and seeing Jinx's door open, shared a glance and hurried over.

"... so we'll keep you updated on any news about that," Robin finished, sporting his civilian look. Glancing to the new visitors, he waved them over and said a quiet goodbye to Jinx as he made his way out. The Titan and Raven shared a look, and Raven felt the thread of thought that touched her mind, breaching that tenuous link the two had established long ago.

_"She doing ok?"_

Raven sent back a short affirmation, and asked a question of her own, _"What's up?"_

She received the equivalent of a sigh in return, _"I'm working to get her history cleaned a bit. Something leaked, and people found out she was Hive. There are complications..."_

Wincing, Raven shrugged the question her expression brought up with a quick feint, a word about Jinx's favorite professor asking about her and her recovery. _"How is it going, then?"_ she sent to Robin, as he signed out on the visitation books, in the lobby.

_"Well, actually. Garfield's... episode has actually helped get the gears working in the right direction. Publicity is a powerful thing. She may loose the property she owns though, if she can't provide a clear, solid proof the money wasn't taken from the Hive somehow."_

Raven had set up the books she and Yoko brought, Jinx's and their own, on the table that the nursing staff had allowed them. It folded out of the way, so wasn't a large difficulty, but the space was needed for all the things they had to work on, in a night's time. At Robin's silent words though, she nearly dropped her bag, again shrugging off the other's glances with a small cough. _"Damn it. She's in love with that place too. I've seen how she looks at it."_

_"Don't worry. I'm looking into it. I'm sure we can figure something out,"_ was he fading reply, and she knew the conversation was over, Robin passing too far for his weak link to maintain.

Taking the news to light, Raven saw that her friend was in a surprisingly chipper mood. Perhaps Robin hadn't spoken at length about the fate of her home yet, she imagined. Or she was masking her anxiety well... deciding that dwelling on such things was counterproductive, she pulled out her notebook and caught up with the others in studying.

Jinx watched Raven's face as she had set up her books, and was amused at how badly she was masking her thoughts. By the end of it, she had a pretty good idea of what was going on, considering her nature. "So... I take you know?" She broached the subject during a break, where they were sipping some of the ice water the hospital provided. Her bones were knitting quicker than she let on, as to give her... time. In case she needed it. No one expected someone with broken bones to go vaulting out of high windows, and disappearing into the night, she knew from experience. As long as she mended enough before the Metahuman containment squads showed up that is...

Starting slightly, Raven nodded and looked into her cup as if seeking some answer. "Yeah, some of it," she admitted, and between them they brought Yoko up to speed, and also managed to fill in each other's blanks some.

One sore point, in Jinx's view, was the lack of any news on what had happened to Beast Boy. Robin had refused to go into it, and despite Raven's more frequent visits to the Tower, she had no news either. Someone had to know what happened to the young man, and that in turn, would let her know. Stepping back mentally from her annoyance at that state of affairs, she tried to pin down precisely why she cared so much. It occurred to her that each time she had been incarcerated, one of the Titans had come, at some point to see her, either for interrogation, simple chatter and banter, or to see how she was mending after the battles. Despite their long rivalry, there was an... understanding there. Nothing was personal. It was all work, and there was talk a few times even, that one or two members from one side, would date the other.

She didn't know. She was so focused on her 'career' that such things went unnoticed. Well, until Flash... Shaking off those memories she pursed her lips and turned her thoughts to Beast Boy again. She understood what had driven him, really, but what had happened to him? Jinx started when a hand closed over her own. Looking up, she saw Raven, with Yoko as usual peering over her shoulder. "I'll find him. I'll get you an answer."

Blushing, the young woman nodded, before settling down into her covers and yawning. They'd been studying a long time, as it turned out and all the ruminating had drained her. Her guests bid her a warm farewell and reset the folding table, then shared an amused grin as the former Thief snored slightly, as they were leaving.

Raven's smile faded once they parted, and she walked into the shadow of a telephone pole, intending to get a few answers.

_OoO_

"Christ, Raven... we have to get you a bell or something."

Grinning to herself, the former Titan settled on the sofa beside Robin and stole a few pieces of popcorn from the tub, her silent entry via shadow as startling to the young man as always. "I know, sorry. Force of habit."

The movie was an old horror flick, a tribute to bad makeup, bad sets, slow budgets and actors that were good enough not to need all the rest. Robin watched as Raven didn't watch the movie, her eyes unfocused. "What did you want to know?"

Chuckling a bit, Raven put down the popcorn and turned her attention to the young detective. "What happened to Garfield?"

Robin's sigh sounded just before the TV was turned off, and he stood. "Come with me," he said simply, and the young woman's brow furrowed as she did so, trailing the young man to the meeting room, then the small office to the side, often used when entertaining state or government officials. "We had some... problems. Working through what had gotten to him."

"It didn't seem so bad, I mean... psychologically speaking, he was following a logical chain of causality that lead to an antisocial breakdown, resulting in a..." she trailed off as Robin blinked at her, and the young woman blushed. "Sorry. Psych class is my favorite."

"I can tell." Robin had sobered during the walk, and as they sat at the small desk, he keyed in a small display monitor there. Raven winced as she saw her longtime teammate and friend, despite all that had happened, in one of the Metahuman containment jackets. "He's very, very sick still."

"Yeah..." she watched as the young man, staring strait ahead, had small fits of shaking and the warning lights on the jacket flared, suppressing his powers. The time skipped erratically, the tape she saw was a 'summary' version, showing time in fast forward. It was a harrowing thing to watch. "Is all that really... needed?"

Nodding slowly, Robin keyed the thing of f and let the monitor go dim. "We've had contact with Doom Patrol, and they have custody of him now. There's been some suspicion that during his last time over there, the backlash from Mento's helmet had compounded some of his own issues. If you remember, there was a problem where it had malfunctioned, basically doing this same thing to Mento."

Raven perked up at this, and bit her lip. "Maybe I could help-"

"No."

"But, Robin," she stopped when the young man held up a hand.

"Not yet. He needs to work through some of this himself. Particularly this hangup with you. If you were to go in there now, he'd be back to square one." Sighing, Robin leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, pinching at the bridge of his nose. "It's surprising, and a bit sobering, huh?"

She merely nodded, easily picking up his thread of though.

Surprising that none of the rest of them had gone mad, in all the time they'd worked together, and all the things that had happened, for so many years. Sobering, that it had happened to the most buoyant, exuberant one of them. Rising, she laid a hand on his shoulder and let it linger a moment. "If you need me..."

"...We know where to find you. Good night, Raven."

"Night, Robin."

_OoO_

"Morning, Rachel. How are you going?"

Raven grinned at Yoko and pulled out a chair for herself, stretching and yawning still. "Good, just early, isn't it?" She laughed a bit when the smaller girl rolled her eyes.

"A bit. I'm used to being here early, though..." her expression darkened for a fraction of a moment and then faded. Raven would have missed it, had she not been who she was. "So, what brings you by? Not canceling our study session tonight are you?"

Shaking her head, the former Titan rested her head on her arms, laying them on the table. Yoko blinked, having never seen the young woman do anything so... normal. She was usually very prim, and had exceptional manners. This just struck her as odd. "I'll be there, I just wanted to come by, talk with you a bit before is all. We only really ever interact, the two of us, around Jin – Jennifer."

"It's alright, you can call her Jinx. I don't mind,"

Grinning, the violet-haired woman shook her head. "I need to get used to it. She's trying to leave that life behind. It doesn't help to hold on to the past." Nodding, the small librarian went about her work, making herself busy as Raven idled there, watching her half-attentively.

Yoko knew she'd bring up what she wanted in time. No sense rushing the former hero.

"I've... decided to go away, for a while."

Yoko dropped the book she was holding, and looked back at the Titan in shock. "What?"

Gathering herself, the Titan sat back but kept her eyes down. "I've just made a mess of so much this year, for Ji – Jennifer." Pausing, Raven cursed her habit-ridden mind. "I feel so bad. If I'd not approached her as a tutor-"

The impact of Yoko's tiny hand rang around the room, as the hand print it left on Raven's cheek glowed brightly. "Don't you ever. _Ever_. Trivialize her like that. This wasn't just about you." The young woman practically shook with rage, and Raven, the blow forgotten just sat and looked at her woodenly, as she went on. "She worked so hard, just to make contact with you, you know that? Do you know how hard it was, to break down the barriers you two put up, all this hero and villain bullshit?! I was so confused in the beginning, as she seemed so tied up in this idea she had of you.

"At the time, I thought _she_ was crazy. Then of course, I had your friend to compare her to, but that's neither here nor there... But eventually she told me, and then it all clicked."

Yoko braced herself on the table, breathing heavily but waved off Raven's half-formed offer to sit. "I'm not finished. Just sit there and listen.

"And about that, listening. Didn't she do so much to help you? All that work, finding material for that strange plan of hers, and obviously it helped. I've seen your name on the lists." Raven looked away, abashed.

She was right. Raven had steadily improved on her grades, her performance and her confidence as time had progressed. She had no problems following her professors now, and the study sessions went on like they should – the three of them helping each other, not them all leading her along.

The diminutive girl had caught her breath, and Raven winced as another salvo was fired her way, "So now, after all that and her nearly out of the hospital, and the trial coming up, and exams coming up – which by the way, you'd be missing and thereby wasting all that time she spent, and... and..." stalling the young woman sat and just sobbed quietly, utterly confusing Raven as she blinked, dumbfounded at the little woman.

"I'm... sorry?"

"You know she cares about you right?"

Raven's stomach felt like it had hit the floor. "Ah..." She looked around uncomfortably, and finally just sighed, rounding the desk to sit beside the still slumped Asian girl. She hazarded a hand to the smaller girl's back, trying to relay some comfort, rubbing slightly through her ever present cardigan. "Yoko..."

The quiet shaking subsided, and her breath grew even. Raven was a bit relieved – she didn't intend on this chat with Jinx's girlfriend to go so... awry. She still had her hand on Yoko's back, when a small noise from the girl brought her back from her musing, "Mm..."

"Sorry, what was that?"

"Little to the left," the shorter girl mumbled, and Raven laughed, despite herself. "Sorry, had to break the tension... and sorry for... well that." Leaning up, her brows knit she run a finger over Raven's still-stinging cheek.

Shaking her head, the former Titan just took a breath and let it out slowly, "It's OK, really. It's been a very rough week. I think... I've just been coming down from this rollercoaster recently, and it got to me."

"It happens to us all," Yoko assured, but her face was still serious. Raven's curiosity piqued when the smaller girl leaned back, regarding her levelly. "You know I meant that, when I said she cares, right?" Looking away, Raven nodded once, barely a bob of her head. "Good. I'd have hated to think you two hadn't talked about this yet."

"It wasn't so much a talk as... well."

Yoko's brow rose fractionally, unlike Raven's color. "NO! No, not that. We talked, and well, we decided to just see what happens. It's really awkward talking to you about this!"

Laughing slightly, the young woman motioned for Raven to stay, and went to the lounge to warm some water for tea. Calling back through the doors, she grinned as Raven was still sitting, staring at her hands as if she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, "Listen, as much as Jinx likes to think she's saving me from some odd fate, or insane life by being as normal as possible around me... let me clear the air about something."

Coming back, she set a box of tea bags, and two cups on the sorting table, making sure all the books were well away. "This idea, that apparently both of you have, is flawed. Normal, I mean," pulling a teabag from the selection, she looked up to Raven with a slow smile. "I see you don't get it."

"I'm afraid... no. I don't," shaking her head, the former Titan busied herself with her tea, as Yoko continued.

"Let me explain. My father is a lawyer, one that spends most of his working day defending the interests of one of Japan's premier research companies. You've probably heard of them in the news, they're planning an expedition to Antarctica, tracking down some unusual signals they found resonating over the Hakone region."

Raven's eyes lit up and she nodded briefly, "Oh right, the-" her words were overshadowed by the ringing of the first bell, but the two didn't worry so much, they were still early to be rushing off to class. Yoko nodded, having heard the young woman's answer.

"Anyway, so odd isn't new to me. Add on to that, my bother is a quarterback for a very popular, and upcoming team in the arena football circuit. I know I've mentioned him to Jenny, but I don't expect you to know." Shrugging, she slipped Raven a newspaper, with the highlight being a rather expressive young man, with blonde hair and a... machine gun. "Hiruma's a great motivator.

"What I'm getting at, Rachel – Raven, is that normal, as you two are thinking about it, means very little. I'm a librarian, sure. The most mundane job ever. Yet I am knowingly dating an ex-villain, who happens to be tutoring an ex-hero, and to top it all off, lets not forget the fact we're both female." Grinning over her cup of tea, Yoko tilted her head, a gesture she seemed to have picked up from Jinx, and regarded the Titan evenly. "So. Do you understand?"

Sighing, Raven had to admit that the young woman had a point. "I get it. But what does this have to do with me and Jennifer?"

"Life isn't normal, Raven. That's what it means."

_OoO_

"I can't believe they ruled against you, after all that," Yoko fumed, stomping about the courthouse hall in her low sandals and skirt, looking like nothing so much as a librarian off seeking noisome patrons to punish.

Jinx just shook her head slowly, hands resting behind it, fingers interlocked as she slowly made her way out in the small crowd that was exiting with her. She felt that postponing the hearing regarding her home was a bad idea, taking both Robin and her counsel's advice to capitalize on the recent publicity, and try to use that to her advantage.

Justice, being blind and all that, wasn't impressed.

"I'm not surprised, I mean, it's hard to justify the money, no matter how you paint it. It was a good try though, using wage reclamation as an angle," she extended a hand to Yoko's father, her attorney for the session and he shook it happily. "Thanks, Mr. Yoichi. It was a good try."

"I'm sorry we lost, regardless," the older man said, shrugging slightly. He brightened almost instantly, and made a gesture toward the doors, "I think Sayoko's mother was preparing a cake for our return, would you like to join us for dinner, Jennifer?"

Shaking her head slowly, the former Thief declined, but much to the man's embarrassment hugged him, "Nah, I have to get back to studying, and now I have to find a place to live."

"Are you sure you won't take up that clerical job, it pays well and my firm could use someone with your grasp on things," the man said, still insistent that his daughter's opinion of Jinx had nothing to do with the job offer. He waited patiently, as she politely considered the offer, trying not to snicker as he slid his ever-present glasses back up his nose. She wasn't convinced, but it was a kind gesture.

Grinning, she shook her head again and stretched, enjoying the sun as they finally broke free of the courthouse, "I'll manage. I don't think I could give you the proper attention, with me finishing up my last few semesters anyway. Maybe after... if the offer still stands." She let it go there, knowing well that job offers among families were best left after marriages. If even then.

Nodding in acceptance of her reasoning, the man collected his daughter after a short pause to let them say their goodbyes, and went their separate way. She watched the car pull off and the small crowd of reporters, statements given and barked to some other cases around her milling about. A moment, perhaps a minute later a black bird landed on her shoulder, and she grinned. Voice cast low, she looked in mock surprise at the 'raven', "So, where to?"

_"I saw a nice second story condo for sale, some small distance from Stanford mall. Your equipment would be no problem for me to move,"_ the voice added, words forming in Jinx's mind easily, the last after sensing her hesitation. She dismissed it anyway, remembering that she herself had moved most of it to her previous second floor.

Nodding, she oriented herself but stalled at a squeeze against her shoulder. The raven pointed at the deeper shadows of an alleyway, it's beak a compass needle, and Jinx grinned making her way there. "Shortcut?"

_"I really like this place,"_ was her only reply, and the former Thief felt a small surge of excitement, wanting to see this condo that one of the two people who defined her life had picked for her to see.

_OoO_

"It is nice," she murmured, looking around at the spacious apartment. It was situated in an odd place, that she'd never considered in looking for a somewhere to live previously. The downtown 'college street' area was a bustling business zone, full of small eateries, flavor shops and things to service the students so close by.

Location-wise, it was already perfect. She could literally walk to class.

The space itself was comfortable, comprising two stories of the upper reach of a building, who's lower floor was devoted to a bookstore. Jinx smirked as she had waited for the owner to get her a key. There was obviously a few strong points to the place, as far as Raven and Yoko would be concerned. She was yet to be sold though.

That changed when she saw the actual apartment. "Wow."

"Told you so."

Wandering about the floor, she was more than a little surprised at the room the place afforded. The bookstore below was a cluttered mess, as all old ones managed, so the dimensions she'd assumed were all wrong. Add to that the upper story above, also part of the deal and she was quickly becoming enamored with the place.

She shower was the deciding factor, though. "This thing is huge!"

The pair explored and exclaimed for a long while, occasionally moving down to ask questions when something wasn't obvious. They'd gotten permission to use the upstairs balcony, which overlooked the back side of the square and finally Jinx was fully sold. "This view will be amazing at night," she observed, noting the distance from the heavy lights of deeper downtown and the college proper. She figured there would be stars in her sky, here. "Raven, can I ask you something?"

The look she got told her as much, but she'd tried regardless since Beast Boy had seemingly fallen off the map. "If it's about Gar, then I don't promise I'll be able to answer," the former Titan mumbled, head laid on her arms as she lazed on the deck.

Rolling her eyes, the former Thief regarded the Titan with mild annoyance, "I have a right to know, after what happened, Raven."

"I agree. But... to be honest, some things aren't mine to tell. Sometimes it's more complicated, and in this case, Garfield would have to tell you. It's not my place," the young woman rebutted.

Nose wrinkled in frustration, the young woman let it go. She'd gotten the same answer from Robin, so this wasn't news. Honestly, she'd been thinking that something more serious than a jealous fit had happened, with all the signs, but without a solid bit of proof... Sighing, Jinx nodded and instead thought about the apartment, when Raven asked her something that she'd been dreading in turn. "How are you going to pay for this?"

Chuckling darkly, Jinx just made an indistinct gesture and shrugged. "I'm sure something will turn up."

True to form, in about a week there was a call for her during on e their study sessions, which she shrugged and invited them to accompany her on. The main office presented a man with a briefcase, whom had a distinct resemblance to Yoko's father, claiming to represent a Mr. Diaz, a long-lost relative of Jennifer's who has passed recently.

The long and short – She'd just inherited her previous stash of Hive funds, well hidden from any prying eyes that the State's attorney could have used. With some percent for a laundering fee, and a bit set aside for Yoko's mother's new kitchen expansion. One could not be too careful, and she's obviously been lax the last time. Besides, her mother made the most delicious cakes...

Jinx talked the bookstore owner into actually selling her the property, on the clause that he could run the store as long as he wanted. This fit into her plans perfectly, and she actually insisted on getting some additional room added, if he were accepting the idea, so he could display all his stock.

The agreement was very well accepted, both ways, in the end. The man downstairs was fiercely loyal – in no part lending to her essentially funding his retirement, and she got a lovely, old, careworn building to play with to herself.

It couldn't replace her condo out in the 'burbs, but then, this could be arguable better. The condo didn't have a full-service library downstairs...

Things moved normally then, as the young women worked and studies and let their odd friendship grow. Jinx became less concerned about her own history, as Yoko seemed to care little for it. Despite this, the two spent less and less time together, socially, as Yoko's family had plans to move back to Japan, for a few years. Something to do with an ailing grandmother... Jinx wasn't sure. What confused her was the dark looks that were shot back and forth between the small woman and Raven.

Yoko finally assented to going with them, provided they wait for her to finish this year of college. Though it didn't change anything between the two immediately, the knowledge of it put a dark cloud over head.

Raven spent more time with the former Thief, as time the week following her move wore on, something to which Jinx was initially nervous, not wanting to make Yoko feel uncomfortable or neglected. The small smiles she got from Yoko as she spied them together just made her shake her head in exasperation, and one day she'd pulled the two into her kitchen, sitting them down at her table with a severe glare.

"Spill it," she'd demanded, and watched as the two looked at each other with mild panic a moment. Rolling her eyes, she pointed to Raven, to which the empath flinched, "You've been here like clockwork every day this week."

"Well, if you'd rather I not-"

"Oh, no no no, you're not getting out of this that easy," the former Hive operative hissed, eyes going narrow as glared daggers at the Titan.

"Rats," Raven replied, causing the pink-haired woman to pause.

Blinking at Yoko, she raised a brow. "Gangster movie night?"

"Was Friday."

"Ah," nodding, Jinx reaffixed her glare, and continued to look from one young woman to the other. "Now, I want to know what you two are planning."

Yoko blinked at her, and Jinx's lips pursed. "But Jennifer, we're not-"

"I know the innocent act. You forget who you're dealing with here."

"Rat- er. Oh nevermind..." sighing, Yoko stood and got a glass, pouring some water from the decanter they kept in the refrigerator. "I just... I know Raven's a really good friend. Probably would be something else were I not here already."

Blinking furiously, as well as feeling her color rise, Jinx started to sputter a denial when Raven held up a hand. "I told her."

"You told her?"

"She told me," Yoko confirmed, that scheming grin plain now. "I gave her permission after all. You just happen to be too annoyingly noble to capitalize on it."

Sitting heavily, the Thief just looked from one of the conspirators to the other for a few minutes. "So..."

"Mhm," murmuring from her tea, Raven nodded as she grinned at the young woman.

"And you..."

"Of course," Yoko affirmed, giggling a bit as she ran her finger around the rim of her glass, coaxing a chine from it.

"But I... yeah." Shaking her head hard, the former Thief rubbed at the bridge of her nose and laughed quietly. "So, what now?"

The two co-conspirators grinned and rose, coming to collect their shared interest. "How about we get something to eat," Raven ventured, as Yoko nodded in agreement.

"Er?" Was Jinx's rather eloquent reply.

* * *

A/N: Better?

-To be concluded.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Characters here are property of their owners, none of which happen to be me. Correction – Yoko's mine.

* * *

Initial Notes: And they lived... What, isn't that enough? At least this isn't Vermilion. Oh and there's some um, mature-ish content on this one. Yay?

* * *

_**A Cup of Sugar, Ch 9**_

Morning came to each part of the world at varying times, Jinx knew.

This morning, came far, far to early, for her tastes. "Oh, auughh," she muttered, rolling unceremoniously out of her warm bed and into the chillier air beyond. The muffled thump of her landing repeated, as with her eyes till half closed she bent into a number of pushups, huffing slightly as she willed action from her still lazing body. Sleep faded from her mind as her blood sped up, her heart thumping quietly, contently in her ears.

Folding an arm, she lay on her back and contemplated the ceiling, yawning hugely again. The sun stretched out into the room further, and with a grin she kicked the small panel by the window, forcing the slats shut. The comfortable darkness that remained whispered to her to sleep again, but she refused, too used to denying that call.

Flipping up onto her feet, she nearly overbalanced, and stumbling, made her way to the bathroom, to begin the water for her shower. The booth was smaller, here, but in time she'd fix that.

If there was one thing she missed from her old apartment, it was her lovely, huge shower. The water was slower, the room a bit more cramped and the room less bright... but she didn't mind it. It was part of something hers, again. Now, the pressure in her bladder... Grumbling she dashed out of the bathroom, leaving the warm water to a trickle, ready for her once she finished her time on the treadmill.

Her eyes, as they often did, traveled to the corner and the nascent, boxed computer there, and the small router that was set up beside it. Sighing, she made a note to set it up... again. It had only been a month since moving in. She wasn't procrastinating.

A burning in her legs finally stopped her jogging, and she let the machine slide her off in it's momentum. Jinx yawned, hugely one last time, before dashing into the bathroom and closing the door. She missed her bar... as soon as she found a place for it, she needed to set it up. Mornings just weren't the same without it, regardless of the other niceties she had now. A grin, anything but innocent crossed her features as she let the water run over her fingers. "Mm, shower," she sighed, and wasted no more time. Deliciously scalding water met her and she leaned forward, hands splayed on the wall as the torrent beat at her, the steam rising up as the water dripped down. A moment more in the heat and she leaned back, arching and twisting in the spray.

Shampoo, it's smell strong in the mist, sudsed in her hair as she scrubbed, humming to herself. So content, so engrossed in her ritual, Jinx failed to notice the shadow, quietly easing into the room and peering into the bath, watching, listening. A moment as she hummed another strain of song, and the shadow had shifted...

Cold, smooth hands moved up from her hips, slipping up along the curve of her breasts to rest there, making her acutely aware of their chill. A single shiver ran through her, but not from the cold, "Mm... see. This is why I try to let the sun in... your hands are cold."

"But, that's why I have you," the slight purr in Raven's voice always set her skin to tingling, when she was so close. Her words tripped over her ear, weakening the Thief's knees where she stood unsteadily, the shower's heat now beating at the curve of her hips. As she liked to, Raven had slipped in with her, and proceeded to pull her from the water, intending to steal it for herself.

Jinx grinned, having been at this game longer than the shorter girl. Stretching back into the water, she purposefully pressed her hips against the shorter girl, feigning a languid arch. Looking back, she was rewarded with the half-demon's eyes going hazed and unfocused, as the contact between them lessened but became more focused. "Raven..."

The shorter girl's eyes snapped up, and she seemed to realize her position, close to the cold tile. "You don't play fair," she accused, as the taller girl smirked, ducking from between the hero's arms.

"Not often, but at least I try and make up for it," she quipped, pulling at Raven's hand and settling the dusky skinned woman under the fall of water. She was instantly rewarded with a content sigh from the demoness, as she soaked in the heat, lifting up her arms into the spray as it cascaded across her face, down her shoulder and against her collar.

Jinx leaned back and suppressed a purr, watching the water slide over Raven's skin. It was mornings like this that made her very pleased to have gotten this apartment. "Stay still," she ordered quietly, and without opening her eyes, Raven nodded, her hands wrapped around the shower head as she arched, her back to Jinx.

The soap was smooth, liquid and wonderful smelling, and the only thing between her and Raven. As her hands worked at the former Titan's back, she faintly hummed, the color rising along her skin as the warmth soaked deeper. She was cold, chill by nature, a consequence of her heritage she claimed. Jinx knew it to be true, but still it amused her. Those often barbed exchanges, the insults sometimes calling into light her cold nature, and so often now she was not only amused, but grateful for the smaller woman's tendency to cling, seeking heat.

She'd never felt so wanted.

Jinx liked to show her appreciation, for that feeling. "Oh... that's amazing," the demoness groaned, arching her back slightly as Jinx's slender hands worked at her lower back. With a grin, she focused there and tried to keep her mind from wandering, and with it, her hands. Not that the shorter girl ever minded... Giving in to temptation she dragged the nails of her hands along the curve of the woman's back, up over and along her shoulder, setting a shiver along her spine. When her fingers reached Raven's collar, she slipped her arms around the woman's sorter frame, letting her fingertips trace along the Titan's more generous curves.

The Thief bit her lip, as the woman under her hands turned, slipping slender arms around her and pulling her forward. Warm water cascaded over her face, driving the chill from her skin, not that it was noticed as soft curves and needy hands were already there. A small noise escaped her, as the shorter woman stole her lip from between her teeth, the beginning of a kiss.

Moments passed as they forgot the water and the boundaries between one another, Jinx's small, sharp cries a counter for Raven's low, purring sighs. It was a few moments before the water turned chill that the two settled back, Jinx's back and hips against the tile and Raven wrapped in her arms, her back to the taller girl. The Thief smirked, as her hands wandered, tracing over Raven's skin, drawing a gasp as they settled along points more sensitive. "Keep that up, and we'll be back in bed, another day wasted," he former hero warned.

Chuckling, Jinx leaned and grazed her teeth along Raven's neck. "I never consider such, a waste," smiling impishly, she bit harder, making the girl in her arms falter and lose her footing. "Besides, Yoko would have us both killed if we were late picking her up from the airport."

"Five more minutes..."

Jinx nipped at the half-demon's ear. "Water's getting cold."

Grumbling, the violet haired girl leaned her head back for one last kiss, before scurrying from the threatened chill. Jinx smiled, rinsing the brief soap from her skin and hair, sure her distraction was enough to miss plenty.

When the water was finally turning cold, she cut the heat off entirely and counted to twenty, her teeth chattering and clenched as she bit out a short scream from the cold.

Fully awake, if distracted, she padded back into the bedroom with a towel around her shoulders, another capturing her hair. Raven was back in bed, curled up in the blankets and dozing, the closed window slats keeping the sun at bay, letting her rest. Jinx made it quietly around the room, gathering up clothes to wear. Raven was likely to sleep through most of the day, something at the Tower keeping her up late, so she'd have to explain to Yoko herself. Still, she took her cell and made sure Raven's was on, just in case.

Besides, she didn't mind picking up the little librarian. Grinning wickedly, she tossed a few extra dollars in her bag and settled it on her shoulder in the mirror.

"So much has changed," she mused.

Those months ago, she could have barely imagined the things that would happen to her. Wary, careful, she'd made plans, kept her eyes open, and always planned for the worst, while hoping for the best. There was always the threat of her life crumbling down, some shadow of her past reaching out and stealing away her future.

And then, it had almost happened. Jinx smiled, as she thought about how things could have gone, had she not gotten back in contact with Raven. She may have had her condo still, the focus to be on the Dean's list, and a life she'd planned out. Boring.

The past was dead, and for all the time and effort she'd placed in it, she didn't mind. As far as reasons go, she still wondered, still had questions about the precise happenings that lead her to this place. Those weren't quite as pressing, though. This now was a good thing, and being where she was, now, made her rather happy. Her hair in tails and her skirt decidedly too short, she smirked and walked through the small stairwell that lead outside, snatching a rather ridiculous pink helmet off the hat stand there.

Five minutes later she was guiding her Vespa down the street, humming loudly and grinning madly. Traffic wasn't an issue, as today it seemed that people had better things to do than get in the way of the girl who alternated driving to doing acrobatics behind the scooter's handlebars.

The occasional "Aooooga!" when someone was going too slow seemed to help matters.

As usual, the trip was too short, but she'd gotten used to curbing her impulses enough after getting the cute ride some time ago. It was just too much fun.

Yoko knew to come outside, so Jinx wasn't worried on making it there before the small girl. After all, there was that problem, with airport security she had... definitely and oil and water type relationship. Oh, she could have brought all her paperwork, put on the wig and contacts and the like, but she was only supposed to be there long enough to snatch one pretty librarian and make a run for it. Circling the lot, Jinx wasn't surprised to see her standing there chatting with her father. It was a cute sight, really, and a small part of her envied the relationships with her family that Yoko had. Even though it seemed idyllic, she knew better, it was far better than what she'd had. Shaking off her contemplation, she glanced back to see how her... pickup, would play out. She was still wondering why it was Yoko had worded her voicemail in that very specific way, when the answer stood there, beside the two happily chatting Yoichis. Slightly to the side and with his football gear slung over a shoulder, lazed Yoko's brother Hiruma.

"Oh hell," Jinx muttered, ducking the scooter behind a parked van. Yoko had mentioned the young man a few times, but the last thing she'd really expected was to see him in the US. The other problem of course... well. Brothers and overprotective streaks, plus villain girlfriends who were also dating someone besides said sibling... Dating? Blinking, Jinx had to assess that one. She didn't know if the living together and copious amounts of sex qualified. Shrugging off the musing, she leveled her coral eyes at her target.

Instead, she found herself staring right back Yoko's blonde haired brother. "Hmm..." Pulling out her cell phone, she grinned.

I oOo I

Yoko was irritated. "No, dad. I don't think it's bad weather for this time of year." She'd just managed to survive a month with her family in Japan, helping tend to the needs of her grandmother and her failing health. Small, necessary things, like moving the aged woman to a care ward, and dealing with the home and how to arrange it's care as well. While that was all well and good, she was a very independent person by nature, and all this family interaction had her ready to scream. Currently her mother was remaining overseas to help, and in her place...

"Hiru, what are you staring at?" The young man's gaze had been locked on a nearby van for at least a minute, and Yoko was worrying that he'd do something spectacularly destructive just for the hell of it, since he was back on US soil.

Usually he at least waited till winning a game, but recently, with his own graduation and the various work of sorting through pro team offers, he'd been... less stable. "Oh, just some strange girl, who's watching us."

To her credit, Yoko only managed to half fall on her face. "Ah?! Oh, haha. Maybe she's a fan? You did get a lot of coverage you know..."

"Mm."

Jinx was here, then, she mused. Her message had been clear enough she felt. "SAVE ME, HELP! We arrive at 8am, don't be late! (heart) SO DON'T FORGET!" Yoko knew that it wouldn't be as easy to pick her up with both her father and brother there to potentially interrogate Jinx, despite her dad's already fair familiarity with the young woman.

It just didn't pay to let your parents know you weren't their innocent little angel anymore. Or rather, to crush those illusions so utterly by being caught in bondage gear while being disciplined, she amended. Sighing happily, she snapped back to the present and bit her lip.

She hoped Jinx didn't exacerbate her brother too much-

Far too close for her comfort, something _exploded_. Instinctively she turned slowly to look at Hiruma, but the taller man just shrugged, a slight smile playing over his features.

People began rushing out and around the airport, as security moved in shortly after to try and contain the chaos. It wasn't working so well, as no one really knew what was going on. The family moved to the corner of the entranceway, avoiding the press and push of the crowd while trying to keep an eye on the scene. "Well, this will make getting a taxi difficult," her father griped, causing a tick to fire under Yoko's eye. She'd told him that after the trip, likely she would want to find her friends and maybe spend the day with them. He'd firmly squashed that idea, saying she would be coming home and that, was that.

The difficulty of course came with her father knowing that one of those friends was the one with the paddle that day. "Dad, I really don't think we're going to be getting out of here anytime soon. You know how paranoid airports are these days."

"Oh I wouldn't say that."

The three turned, her father letting out a gasp at the voice just a meter behind them. To her credit, Yoko just grinned, recognizing the voice... until she realized that the ground under her feet was rapidly _swallowing_ her. "Meep?"

"What the," Her brother blinked once at the ground, once at her father's face as it seemed to swell and grow huge in anger, and once at the girl leaning indolently against the wall smirking at them before he came to the most logical course of action, with a brief nod.

Pull out a machine gun and start shooting things. "YAAHAA!"

Jinx had heard Yoko's tales of her deranged brother, but she really didn't believe the whole shtick about being able to spontaneously produce heavy firearms from midair. Grudgingly, she admitted this was a tactical error on her part. "Holy shit!" Backpedaling and lunging off the wall, she managed flip over his and Yoko's father's head and avoid a few stray shots, but noticed in passing the bullets were _bouncing_, not leaving impact craters...

Grinning, she winked at the blonde, as he returned the gesture.

"What the hell is going on here!?" Yoko's father on the other hand, was in full, red-faced end-boss mode, and seemed to have found his enrage timer. "Can't you people behave normally!?" he roared, as she pecked him on the cheek in passing.

"Welcome back Mr. Yoichi!" Jinx cartwheeled away, as he flailed at her madly.

Yoko's response to this, Jinx felt, was rather apt, "Meep?!"

The man looked once at his daughter, seemingly already up to her shoulders in some kind of hole, before pointing at Jinx with an accusing finger. "Stop making reality break so you can play your weird sex games with my little angel!"

Snickering, Jinx just dived in after the panicking librarian, as Hiruma sowed a bit more chaos just for good measure. Rounding on the young man, Mr. Yoichi stabbed a finger at him next, "And you! Stop acting like your mother!"

That one actually made Jinx pause. "Huh. I guess Yoko takes after her dad."

"Graaah!" The man's head was dangerously reaching critical mass, which was fine. Her backup was already spiriting them back to more... normal climes.

I oOo I

"And I thought my family was weird," Raven remarked, settling in the couch while Yoko looked around with huge eyes.

"How did we," stumbling, the small girl blinked, then remembered what had just happened. "You!"

Snickering still, Jinx finally just fell over and laughed outright. "Oh wow, I haven't seen your dad so worked up since that day with the paddle-"

"You shut up!" Finally catching her breath, the tiny girl shrieked, falling backwards onto the couch. "You realize that Hiruma's going to be locked up forever thanks to this right?" To her irritation, the former Thief just brushed the comment off. "You know, for the whole machine gun thing, which by the way, I warned you about!"

"Rubber bullets," Jinx replied, settling on the floor before the two others on the couch. "He just wanted to have a bit of fun too. Besides, we'll put in a good word for him. Aren't always saying it's uncanny how no one ever does anything about that?" She shrugged again and stretched, smiling.

Raven snorted, chuckling, "I don't blame him, your dad is a riot when he's mad. I've never seen someone spout steam from their ears,"

Laughing, Jinx pointed to Yoko and winked to Raven, "Hang on, I wasn't kidding when I said she takes after her dad."

"Graaah!" As she was slammed into the ground, Yoko's tiny hands bunched in her shirt and holding her down, Jinx had to admit, it was a wonderful life. "I'm going to kill you!"

"You're cute when you're angry, you know that?"

Raven just sat back and grinned, shaking her head. "It's good to have you back, Yoko."

I oOo I

"So now that they're back home, when do you want us to go pick up a few more of your things?" They'd finally managed to calm the smaller woman down, but the cost had been high. Jinx rubbed idly at her backside, wincing as she sat the dining room table. Totally worth it, she thought to herself, as the beaming Yoko sipped some tea.

She considered the question a moment and finally shrugged, "Anytime really. There's no rush with the semester over, and I have a couple day's clothes in my suitcase."

Raven chose then to walk in, carrying a small tray of cookies, "I'm not as good as you at this, but I think they came out OK." She ruffled Yoko's hair in passing, earning a wrinkled nose and a raspberry. "So, any plans for tonight yet? I should check in at the T soon, and want to know what my excuse is."

"C'mon, they aren't that bad," Jinx replied, as Raven just stared at her. "What?"

Rolling her eyes, Raven shuffled through the papers on the nearby table, till she found her target. "Have you been even reading these?"

"Yes."

"Something other than the comics?"

"... No." Picking up the newspaper, her coral eyes narrowed. "Wow..." There on the front page, a group shot of the heroes looked back. Titans West was always in a state of flux, and as she checked the date, it seemed that the newest group was an interesting collection indeed. "No wonder. What are the odds on this one?"

On the front page, the current working team was arrayed, behind them scene of fairly modest destruction, by all accounts. At the head was the familiar face of Robin, now in his Nightwing garb. Apparently the other... Robin, had gone back for more training. Jinx had wondered about this, after the man had come to speak with her at the hospital, but Raven had cleared things up. "The bat family is insane," she explained, which seemed easy enough to work with. Ever present at his back were Cyborg and Starfire, the Tamaranian having not been seen in some time.

Must be back for her beau, she assumed, scanning the other faces present. There again was Wally, and beside him, the scowling face of Beast Boy. "They look awfully... chummy. Don't you think?"

Tilting her head, the former hero nodded ruefully. "Yeah, they figured the best way to keep an eye on him, and help him through his issues and that social breakdown he had, was to keep him working, and active," shrugging, she settled beside Yoko and shared a cookie with the shorter woman. "Which again, is why I need an excuse. Color me antisocial, but I'm not really in a hurry to go back."

Honestly, Jinx didn't blame her. With the common knowledge that she was now living with Jinx, Raven had come to be more than a little uncomfortable with the Tower's inhabitants. "Not a problem, I mean.. you've been with them how long?"

"Years," her answer was vague, and even Yoko could pick up on the thread of sadness in her voice.

Jinx settled beside the young woman and draped an arm across her shoulders, while Yoko smiled, resting her hand along Raven's gently. "It's alright. I mean, I don't know if it helps," Raven looked up and met her eyes curiously, as Jinx continued, "but well, you have us. And you haven't lost them. Friends drift, they fall away... sometimes all the way.

"If they're important to you, you'll work at it." Leaning forward she bumped her forehead into Raven's making her grin. "Hell, I'll even go with you if you want. Would it help?"

It took her a moment, but hesitantly Raven nodded, a small blush coloring her cheeks. "I just feel a bit alienated these days. Robin comes and goes, Star's been all over, but for some reason, they never get like this."

"Really?" Yoko blinked and looked from one to another, as they nodded, Jinx seeming to consider the question a moment before doing so as well. "I guess it's just... well. The nature of what and how?"

Blinking a moment, Jinx nodded at the logic. "I suppose. Robin goes off to hero cram school with the Bat, Star goes off to save some unpronounceable world, but you," poking Raven above the navel, the Titan squirmed, Jinx grinning down at her. "You had to go off and get a life. For shame."

A shove at her shoulder imbalanced the Thief, and she flailed about before falling off the couch. Yoko peered down with a satisfied smirk, as the pink haired girl stared up at her accusingly. "Be nice," the librarian reprimanded, but with a smile. Turning back to Raven, she broke another cookie in half, offering one to the introspective young woman. "She's right, about people growing apart in time. But people also grow closer. I'm happy to have you two, I can't feel too bad that things led you the way they did."

Her head perking up over the edge of the couch, Jinx nodded in agreement. "Besides, you'd be bored without us."

Chuckling, she reached out and ruffled Jinx's hair, before smiling. "I would at that. And would be much colder in the morning as well."

Yoko raised a brow at Jinx's heavy blush to this. "Oh, she finally wore you down hmm?" Snickering when the Thief shot her a dirty look, Yoko only shrugged in response. "I told you so. I don't know why you two were so hesitant about things," nibbling her cookie, she blinked as the Hero and the Villain gave each other a meaningful glance and then smiled at Yoko menacingly. "Meep?"

"Good answer," the two replied in unison, advancing on the girl.

I oOo I

"I know how you feel about this," Yoko said quietly, standing by the stairwell as her often roommates stood at either side, looking at the door intently. It was nearly the start of the next semester, and they had agreed to just take advantage of the close location of the apartment and all live there, as opposed to paying overpriced dorm fees, or trying to find space of their own. It was an odd situation, where everyone had come to rely on and support one another, and though comfortable, no one wanted to impose on one another. The irony of this was that, as one, the three young women had grown to depend on one another enough to know that wouldn't happen. Yoko let her lip curl slightly into a grin, "Are you sure?"

Jinx looked back, and odd mix of worry and happiness on her features. "The other place was nice, and it helped me a lot... but yeah. It's gone, and beyond there," she waved her hand, a dismissive gesture. "I, yeah. I am sure." She turned and nudged Raven out of her introspection, the young woman shaking it off with an apologetic grin. "What about you? I mean, you have so much history..."

Shaking her head, the violet haired girl just reached out, steading herself with a hand on her two friends. "It's OK. Honestly, it's been a while since I thought of any place in that way, like I think about here. This is where I want to be."

Nodding, Jinx looked down at the simple wooden plaque in her hands, an odd warmth and anxiety in her chest. She'd never thought of those words, with so much gravity before, and to just... know now. She swallowed the lump in her throat and smiled brilliantly up at her friends. "Alright then."

Jinx lifted the small sign, as Yoko and Raven both helped tack it to the door of their apartment. It was simple thing, just a wooden sign without embellishment or ornament. It was the message that it bore, that affected them. Smiling they stood back, Jinx wrapping an arm around Raven, letting her hand rest along the Titan's hip, while her other sneaked around Yoko's waist. They leaned close and returned the impromptu embrace.

"Welcome Home."

-End, A Cup of Sugar.

* * *

A/N: do you see what I see?


End file.
